How many Apple events can you stand in one year? This year has been something of a gold mine for those of us who mine Apple every day.
Sure, WWDC in late spring is mostly about software– iOS, macOS, et al– but it’s the hardware we buy to use the software and Apple let it all hang out this year. New iPhone and Watch. New MacBook Air and Mac mini.
See the problem? Apple hardware is expensive and many customers cannot afford to upgrade to new models every year so we wait to upgrade. For example, I use two Macs at home. A desktop bound iMac and a MacBook Pro for the road. But I don’t upgrade each one every x-number of years. As it stands now the upgrades are staggered, one new Mac every two years, but, on average, I keep each four years or so before getting a new Mac.
iPhones are different thanks to the iPhone Upgrade Program. A new iPhone each year costs about the same as waiting for two or three years, minus the resale value. iPads are different because they do much the same thing as always. Yes, you can use iPad for work, but it’s more of an information consumption device than a Mac-like workhorse.
Watch and AirPods fall into similar upgrade routines. Watch is about every two-three years. AirPods already are two years old and Apple seems content to keep them much the same. That’s OK. My credit card balance is stretched as it is.
Apple’s most recent event launched a new iPad Pro series, a longer overdue MacBook Air, and an interesting Mac mini upgrade. I need to reserve judgement for iPad Pro until I can play with one at the Apple Store but lustworthy seems to be the order of the day, and the degree of lustworthiness often dictates how often the O’Brien’s upgrade to new hardware.
MacBook Air is lustworthy. Mac mini is lustworthy. iPad Pro is lustworthy. And, we just went through two other lustworthy products last month– iPhones Xs, Xs Max, and XR, plus Watch Series 4. Lustworthy:
Adjective[edit]
lustworthy (comparative more lustworthy, superlative most lustworthy)
Worthy of being lusted after; sexually desirable.
Yep. That describes Apple hardware these days. Lustworthy. Unless you’re rich, it takes great discipline to be an Apple customer. There are times we forget that Apple is a hardware company and devices are where we spend the most money. Apple makes them lustworthy so we buy more. We do. I’ve asked Apple to put an upgrade program on Mac, Watch, and iPad but haven’t heard back.