Twelve years ago , my former Macworld colleague Lex Friedman and I were at an Apple - focused league where we presented a talk called “ Apple is Huge Now ( And That suck up For You ) . ” The retentive and short of it was that the Apple of 2012 was not the same Apple of the 1980s , 1990s , or even the 2000s — now Apple was a elephantine society that could less afford time worrying about you as an someone .
A decade - plus on , it ’s hard to believe that Apple has convey even big and that , essentially , each and every one of us count that much less to it , but it ’s unarguably straight . only put , it ’s a subject of plate — the company just ca n’t afford to spend the same amount of time worry about its client that it could have 20 years ago because there are just that many more of them .
In its role as one of the declamatory purveyor of technology in the world , Applehasno pick but to adopt a linear perspective of scale . This comes into caper in all sorts of decisions the company makes , from the big of the big to the small of the modest .
Apple updated its Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Keyboard with USB-C, but it didn’t take the opportunity to do anything else with them.
Input-output
Let ’s take , for example , the matter of ironware changes — even those that may seem inconsequential . Apple this weekreleasednew versions of its input peripheral gadget for Mac : the Magic Keyboard , Magic Mouse , and Magic Trackpad . These new revision were virtually identical to the old models , with the exception of swap the Lightning porthole on the earliest versions for a USB - C larboard . That was a change long anticipated by most Apple watchers , for no other reasonableness than the Lightning port has already been phase out on most of the company ’s other devices . ( Those that remain are older products still on sale , such as the iPhone 14 , and those probable to be replaced in the nigh future , like the iPhone SE . )
Apple updated its Magic Mouse , Magic Trackpad , and Magic Keyboard with USB - C , but it did n’t take the chance to do anything else with them .
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Apple updated its Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Keyboard with USB-C, but it didn’t take the opportunity to do anything else with them.
But the big inquiry on the nous of many is : Why is that the only thing that changed ? It ’s not as if these intersection were perfect . The Magic Mouse has long been derided for its inefficient charging port wine on the bottom ; the Magic Keyboard has hold its foreign pointer key layout , in rebelliousness of the rest of Apple ’s keyboard adopting the classic “ inverted liothyronine ” design . Why were neither of those “ problem ” repair ?
WhileJohn Gruber gave a clamant defense of the Magic Mousethat rings largely rightful , I think you ca n’t ignore the impact of scale . These devices are among the most niche of Apple ’s product . Not only are they accessories in the main ( though not exclusively ) used with the Mac , a product line that routinely account for a individual - digit percent of the party ’s overall revenue , but they are also ( again preponderantly ) direct at customers ofdesktops , which are themselves the minority of Macs sold . Moreover , I ’d hazard a surmisal that a high pct of the peripherals Apple ships are those includedwitha computer , such as an iMac , rather than bought severally .
hold changes to any of these devices would have required redesign and re - engineering efforts ; changes that , to those of us on the outside , might seem minor , but when stacked up against the number of these equipment actually sold simply may not pencil out : How much does it be to make changes to the live manufacturing process , how much does it cost to try these merchandise to check that they work aright , and how many of these peripheral does Apple have to sell to pay for that upfront cost ?
The iPhone mini has a devoted following but that wasn’t not enough to persuade Apple to keep it.
In addition to all of that , there ’s another monetary value that has to be considered : the cost of what you’renotdoing .
Cost-portunity
In the last several years , Apple has taken a few different stabs at contribute additional model to its iPhone line - up . That came first in the savour of the iPhone 12/13 miniskirt , followed by the iPhone 14/15/16 Plus . If rumors are to be believed , the Plus model may survey the mini into the darkness next year , while a raw , slimmer iPhone 17 take up a spot at the top of the lineup .
I recognize more than a few folks who bemoan Apple ’s abandoning of the mini form factor . It ’s clear that the product were not blockbuster trafficker — had they been , there ’s no doubt that Apple would have continue to acquire more . But I ’ve also hear the argument that those sales should n’t be the be - all , end - all . To mental capacity : “ If Apple can keep around the iPad mini and the Mac mini , despite what are surely lower sales , why not the iPhone miniskirt ? ”
The iPhone mini has a devoted following but that was n’t not enough to persuade Apple to keep it .
The round-eyed answer ? chance cost . The iPhone is Apple ’s most valuable Cartesian product pipeline by far . It accounts for half the caller ’s tax revenue . Apple sell tens of million every one-fourth . Neither the Mac nor the iPad lines get along even penny-pinching .
The trouble is that the iPhone mini did n’t survive in a vacuum . The name of the game is growth , and if the miniskirt is n’t pluck up more sales for the company , then it ’s costing too much money . Apple can only make so many iPhones amount ; it does n’t have the sumptuousness of spending the time and effort invest in a product that does n’t sell as well — especially when it could be making adifferenttype of iPhone that might trade better . There is a toll to keep around an underperforming Cartesian product , especially in your well - selling product personal credit line : component part , assemblage , marketing , and so on all still have to be devoted to that product , even if it ’s not keeping up its end .
That ’s why Apple change over gears to the positive phone : to see if it could follow where the miniskirt could n’t , in sales . And if it too fail , as those rumors suggest , it will be next on the chop block .
Scale every mountain
All too often , Apple ’s decisions can feel personal . Believe me : I was all set to bribe a new Magic Keyboard , but the want of that inverted - T arrow key layout made me waver . Why would Apple do this tome ? The problem is that ultimately , with the number of customers Apple has , each and every one of us is — at some time or another — an boundary case . An exception to the dominion .
Ultimately , everything Apple does these sidereal day has to be viewed from a position of plate . Given the sizing of the company , the number of product it ’s construction , and its worldwide reach , small conclusion can cursorily become big ones . A battlewagon turns slowly , as the old saying goes , and that think of it ’s even more decisive for the mortal steering to be confident that they ’re take in therightturn — and that does n’t always mean that each and every one of us gets to go along for the ride .
