“‘Later this year, we’ve got the best product pipeline that I’ve seen in my 25 years at Apple,’ Apple’s VP of Internet, software, and services said at the Code Conference last month,” Daniel Sparks writes for The Motley Fool. “‘Wait,’ some may protest, ‘Twenty five years? That includes the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad — the products that define Apple’s greatest years under the iconic Steve Jobs. How can Eddy Cue say that?'”
“For Apple to make such a bold statement, the company should be readying an entirely new product for a 2014 launch. Even more, the new product — or products — should be revolutionary. That’s about the only way the company could live up to such a statement,” Sparks writes. “Such a task won’t be easy. But Apple seems more willing than ever to bend the possibilities of tomorrow — even if it requires entirely new materials and new areas.”
“Enter Apple’s senior vice president of design, Jonathan Ive, arguably the company’s most important executive after CEO Tim Cook,” Sparks writes. “In a full transcript of an interview with Ive (made available yesterday) used for an in-depth profile of Cook by The New York Times that was published last weekend, Ive said Apple is making big moves into new areas and new materials. ‘I’ve worked for the last 15 or 20 years on the most challenging, creative parts of what we do. I would love to talk about future stuff — they’re materials we haven’t worked in before. I’ve been working on this stuff for a few years now. Tim is fundamentally involved in pushing into these new areas and into these materials.'”
“One new material that Apple is rumored to be making a big bet on is sapphire crystal,” Sparks writes. “Further, as MacRumors‘ Juli Clover explains, Apple may also be experimenting with Liquidmetal alloys and grapheme [sic graphene] (a new manufacturing material).”
Read more in the full article here.
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I think people have misunderstood Eddie Cue’s statement. Most seem to think it means there are new products that will blow away the likes of the iPod or iPhone… But the mention of “pipeline” means he’s looking at all products they’re readying to release this year and he believes it’s the best lineup he’s seen in 25 years.
As usual, getting blown out of proportion – most likely so they can knock Apple back down later.
This is how I’ve looked at Eddy’s statement.
In Apple’s mindset, the iMacs, MacBooks, and Mac Pros being introduced this fall (assuming Intel gets its act together by then) will be the best ever.
In Apple’s mindset, the iPods, iPhones, and iPads shipping this fall will be the best ever.
In Apple’s mindset, the AppleTV, Airports, etc. shipping this fall will be the best ever.
In Apple’s mindset, Yosemite and iOS 8 will be the best ever.
Therefore, even without a new, signature device Apple will have the best “pipeline” ever.
Assuming that his statement meant that Apple will definitively come out with one or more radically new device(s) is just an extrapolation made in the mind of the listener. It may happen. It may not happen. Eddie did not say it will happen.
Yeah it sucks to pragmatic about these things, but most people want it to mean that there are awesome new products about to be released. (And in all honesty, I do as well, but I’m not about to misconstrue a statement made by an Apple exec just to appease that desire.)
I’m honestly more excited about the software upgrades than anything else. Although I may have to buy a Bluetooth 4.0 USB dongle to make use of some of it?
He clearly didn’t take MDN into account if it doesn’t happen, for there are the usual suspects on here who will sound out like strangled cats to vent their ire.
“Later this year, we’ve got the best product pipeline…”
It’s actually a weird statement for Eddy to make, as if he paused and reordered his thoughts but the reporter didn’t understand the significance of that pause. Pipelines are multi-year and actually don’t guarantee a product launch at all because the first two phases of a product in the pipeline are research and development. Even then, as a product works its way through the pipeline it can get cancelled or delayed at any time. Which is why seasoned Apple employees are loath to talk about future products (regardless of the employment risk they would face if they were to share what they knew!).
If I were to consult with my Cupertinologists on this one I expect they would say that Eddy was thinking “there are products scheduled for introduction this fall” but then he stopped himself and backpedalled to the less specific pipeline statement.
As it should if Apple doesn’t come through
Graphene a new manufacturing material? They haven’t even decided what its use will be since they discovered its properties so how can it be used as a manufacturing material?
I’m in GTAT and LQMT…hope it is sapphire screen cover with liquid metal body…not sure about the grapheme thing…leave that for me-first-Samsung’s wonderful innovation. I would love for Apple to not need 10 trillion cases at the mall to cover up a beautiful phone.
Apple realizes that if you are going to stay #1, you have to keep the full court press on 100%.
You push the competitors off the playing field by simply being the best through the whole computing ecosystem.
It is tempting to think just hardware, because that is what feeds most news “analysts” and “reporters”, but Apple’s software innovation is nothing to be sneezed at.
Here we go again – great new products in the pipeline. Does anyone actually believe consumers will care that Apple is using some kind of new “glass”? Will it still break, smudge, and reflect light so you can’t see the screen when you are outside? If it doesn’t do any of this, then we have another bag of not much of anything.
Idiot troll with nothing better to do. You have a boring life.
Actually, he’s a pretty flexible individual and he’s just practicing that flexibility here. As we all know he states an opinion as if it is an absolute view of a majority of the population, claiming all direness towards Apple and its followers, and then, when events prove him wrong, this flexibility comes into play as he shifts positions to something else where he feels he can denigrate Apple and its followers.
It is still boring, though, isn’t it? 😉
A Mac/iPod/iPhone user would be going nuts waiting for new iterations and brand new devices.
A troll would just be going nuts period.