Looking back, 2017 must have been a great year for Apple: ten years of the first iPhone, Apple Watch Series 3, updates for the Mac, new iPads, the Apple TV 4K and two new products: HomePod and AirPower. But over time, some of the company’s products have not aged well.
Of course, we have to start with AirPower, the wireless charger (based on Qi) that should simultaneously charge an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. It took Apple nearly two years to cancel the project.
The AirPower’s internal structure consisted of three coil layers, which did not work. In addition to memes, this product may have revolutionized the way we charge wireless devices.
For now, we have MagSafe, which can quickly charge an iPhone 12 (with the right power supply), and MagSafe Duo, which can charge an iPhone and Apple Watch at the same time. With MagSafe now available, AirPower is one of the products that Apple tries to forget that has already been announced.
Now, with iMac Pro and HomePod, things were a little different. With very specific niches, both products survived until March 2021.
In fact, the iMac Pro had that outdated design from the iMac line, but with a Space Gray finish, which was nice. This product turned out to be a replacement for “Pro” users who were missing out on a new Mac Pro, and it came after the infamous Mac Pro trashcan style.
With the first addition of Intel Xeon processor options in the Mac line, it included upgrade options of up to 18 cores, 128 GB of RAM and 4 TB of flash storage. When Apple announced the new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR at WWDC19, the iMac Pro was no longer a good choice.
HomePod, on the other hand, was a great product, but also Apple’s most misunderstood product, according to my colleague Ben Lovejoy. Read an excerpt from his article:
“There was a big gap between what it really was and what most people thought it was – and Apple’s marketing didn’t help. Ask most people to tell you what a HomePod is, and they will tell you that it is Apple’s smart speaker. (…) That would be true, if it were so. As a smart speaker, the HomePod was much more expensive than the competition and less smart. “
HomePod is a really great speaker with powerful bass, good spatial audio features and stereo mode and support for Siri. But over the years, it has not aged well.
First, Apple cut $ 50 off its original price (first yellow flag). After that, the company gave a notable discount to employees before launching the mini HomePod (second yellow flag). So, when the mini version of HomePod arrived in 2020, and it was a success in its own way, Apple decided to discontinue the original HomePod.
With HomePod and iMac Pro discontinued, what could Apple be expecting to say goodbye next?
What could Apple discontinue from 2017?
There are two products that Apple could probably discontinue and that were first introduced in 2017. The first is the Apple Watch Series 3. After surviving five years as a flagship product, it could be replaced only by the Apple Watch SE on end of this fall, which is more powerful and may have a price drop.
With the S3 processor and only 8 GB of storage, many customers complain that they want to download the latest versions of watchOS and cannot because they do not have enough storage. The Series 3 wouldn’t be discontinued out of dishonor, but I think it’s time for Apple to say goodbye to the product.
Another device that needs to receive a proper update is the Apple TV 4K. If Apple doesn’t launch a new model sooner or later, it may be next to say goodbye to customers, here’s why:
- Apple TV 4K is much more expensive than a Chromecast or Fire Stick
- I haven’t received major updates with tvOS in years
- AirPlay and the TV app are featured on many third-party Smart TVs
Since HomePod has been discontinued, it would not be a surprise if Apple simply discontinued the Apple TV 4K. There have been rumors of a new model for years, but we haven’t seen one yet.
Products worth mentioning
Looking ahead to 2017, we also have the MacBook Pro with the second generation of the butterfly keyboard. Of course, Apple did not discontinue the MacBook, but in 2019, the company finally returned to the older scissor mechanism, cleverly called the Magic Keyboard.
Apple launched three generations of butterfly-shaped keyboard, and with each of them, the company received a bad impression due to durability and performance issues.
The MacBook Air also received a small update in 2017, but with the same non-Retina design. Fortunately, Apple introduced a redesign on the line and in 2020 made the MacBook Air one of the first Macs with the M1 chip.
It is also worth mentioning the second generation of the iPad Pro. Although it was a solid product, the smart keyboard is still one of Apple’s products that give users a headache. At least until mid-2020, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro’s smart keyboard was recalled because the company couldn’t figure out how to fix the connectivity between the iPad and the smart keyboard. In my case, I had to go to the Apple Store three times over the years to return my smart keyboard and receive a new one.
As we can see, 2017 could have been a great year for Apple, but the company seems to be trying to forget about it now. With no Apple event yet to be announced, is the company doing spring cleaning before offering users new products?
What do you think? Tell us in the comments section below.
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