Apple Tying Up Loose Ends

Apple has been looked at as trying to catch up and stay relevant in recent years. I even accuse them of it. However, there is an important trend that has been very implicit in Apple's product launches. Apple is very different than its competitors because it makes software, but doesn't license it or make it open source. Android can often look more appealing to a user because of the variety of options that are available from so many different phones. These phone makers have much less at risk when they introduce a new phone. Meanwhile, the iPhone hasn't had any radical change until the iPhone X with its new display. Any new changes to the design have to be very well thought out for Apple, otherwise, iOS is no longer unified and developers become more frustrated. With Apple redefining an edge-to-edge display with its signature notch, we see two types of responses from Android. Either phones that brag about having no notch or phones that embrace the notch. In fact, this has led Android development tools to simulate many different sizes of notches. As one could imagine, this is much more frustrating for Android users and developers because the chances of an app being fully optimized for these phones is much less than an app being fully optimized for iPhone X. Being able to take a trend like this and capitalize on it like Apple has could be a big win for Apple, albeit subtle. This is just one example of Apple's strategy to regain relevance. The slashing of the iPad's price will likely be a big slap in the face at Chromebooks, and the idea of a cheaper Apple notebook coming soon could help shred more marketshare away from Chromebooks as well. Apple tying up these loose ends and capitalizing on their competitors' mistakes and pricing helps Apple products appeal more to the average consumer.