2015 ends and 2016 begins, so it's not a bad date to stop and look back. It has been a year in which Apple has released a new category of product that it had never manufactured before. But we cannot stay with this single product because it has also renewed other categories with new products that will mark the way forward for the next few years. The Apple Watch, the iPad Pro, the Apple TV 4G, the MacBook ... Apple's bets on new products have convinced many, they have let others down, but they have not left anyone indifferent. Apple has been accused of having a "beta" year because it has not released anything that is finished.
New "unfinished" products
Some have accused Apple of releasing products that are not yet finished. Obviously everything will depend on when it is considered, or rather, when each one considers that their product is finished. The Apple Watch launched with many availability issues. Although we do not know the sales figures for the watch, because Apple is determined not to offer them, it seems that the demand was much higher than expected by the company, so they could not cope with all the requests and made a staggered launch that it took time to spread throughout the world.
Despite these problems, the number of apps for Apple Watch was growing rapidly, and shortly afterwards what should have been for many the first version of its operating system was launched: watchOS 2. Apple launched an update that offered new possibilities to developers such as native applications and access to the watch's sensors.
The new Apple TV 4 is accused of something similar. Design very similar to its predecessor, but a completely different concept of television with applications as the main protagonist. Another unfinished product? According to some, it does, because it does not have the streaming television service that Apple was going to launch. That service has never even been hinted at by Apple itself, but it has already been accused of failure for not getting it on time. Apple's new multimedia device already has more than 2600 compatible applications, some of them really extraordinary, and it does not reach 2 months from its launch.
The new MacBook was also the source of much criticism for the company, mainly for its decision to eliminate all connectors and leave only one. A USB-C that you can use for everything from charging it to connecting a hard drive or an external display. An autonomy that gives you plenty to spend the day without having to charge it, an excellent Retina display and more than enough power to perform the tasks for which it is designed with ease (I doubt that anyone who needs to use Final Cut Pro buy this computer) at only 920 grams of weight were not enough to convince those who, without even having tried it, they criticized its low power due to the Intel Core M processor.
The last big bet of the year has been the new iPad Pro. A new concept from Apple, according to many too continuous with the previous versions, which tries to provide the iPad with the necessary tools so that users begin to consider the possibility of changing their portable by this new tablet. Its large size and the enormous power of its processor, as well as the quality of its screen and the new Apple Pencil that complements it, leave the ground very paved to achieve this, but it still has the enormous limitation of having iOS as an operating system. Yes, it is true that the applications have improved a lot, that there are already excellent professional applications for iOS, but it is still a very scarce catalog and also its functions do not reach those of its desktop equivalents. Outside of the graphic design and music industry, the iPad Pro is still not seen as a product that can really stand up to a good laptop.
The same old movie
Does anyone remember the original iPhone? That smartphone that changed the concept of smartphones and is now one of the most successful products of all time. Its first generation, launched in 2007, lacked 3G connectivity, could not send MMS and also did not even have an App Store to be able to install applications. It didn't even have the option to 'copy and paste', not to mention not having a single game in its catalog of pre-installed applications. Few now remember the shortcomings of the first Apple smartphone.
Nor is it new that Apple is accused of trying to cover too many products, as some now insist on making us believe. Let's not forget that Apple once even had a range of printers for their computers, not to mention his game console, Apple Pippin, released in 1995 for $ 599. The launch of the first iPod was even questioned. Does anyone doubt that the iPod has been one of the company's flagship products for years? Well, the first generation was highly criticized and there were many people who asked Apple to focus on what it has always done and abandon "toys" for mass consumption.
Yes, it may be true that the first generations of Apple products have their shortcomings, I think that is something that we must all admit, whether we are more or less fans of the company. It is also true that many times the expectations that we ourselves create with rumors then make the final product not meet the great expectation created. But there is also something very clear: as almost always that lapidary phrase of "This with Jobs did not happen" is flatly false. Apple has always done the same, and at the moment you cannot say that it has done so badly.