iPhones and MacBooks: We get them every year, but that may change soon

Everyone is currently awaiting the new line of M4 Apple computers. New MacBooks, Mac Minis, and more are all expected — based on Apple's previous annual launch schedule. 

Apple has been fairly predictable when it comes to new product releases. Software announcements come in June at WWDC, followed by new hardware. For example, new iPhone announcements have long been slated for Apple's September event, followed by new MacBook launches later in the fall.

However, that dependable annual release schedule from Apple appears to be coming to an end. According to Bloomberg's Apple insider, Mark Gurman, Apple has been "slowly" moving away from this annual release strategy.

Apple changes up it's annual product release cycle

For many years, Apple users have come to expect new Apple hardware releases to come on a fairly consistent schedule. 

According to Gurman, this was done for a few reasons. It provided employees with a deadline to work towards. It helped investors know what to expect. And it provided Apple's marketing team with the post-summer timeframe to go all out with its press and marketing push.

However, as Gurman explains, this has become more challenging as Apple expands well beyond just smartphones and computers. Some products, like certain AirPods or Apple Watch models, don't need a yearly hardware update.

In addition, certain Apple teams have been spread thin in order to work within these scheduled launch dates. Gurman shares that Apple's audio team needs to work on every device – from Macs and iPhones to the Apple Watch and AirPods.

Software updates have also made things more challenging, as Apple now deals with a range of operating systems from iOS to Apple Vision Pro's visionOS. Every time new hardware is announced, the work has to be done to make sure everything is compatible with the software too. 

Unfortunately, the timeframe to get both hardware and software out the door doesn't always line up. For example, Apple has heavily promoted its new iPhone 16 as being built specifically for Apple's AI, Apple Intelligence. However, Apple Intelligence hasn't even yet been launched even though the iPhone 16 launched last month and has been in customers' hands for weeks.

Gurman does expect iPhone's annual update and September announcement event to continue. However, Apple's experiment to ditch the annual announcements for certain products has already begun to roll out. In the past few years, there have been more random Apple releases for new Macs in January and in June. Apple launched new iPads in May, which is not a regularly scheduled Apple launch time period.

But, fear not Apple fans. Gurman says that Apple's decision to change up strategy will likely result in "more frequent releases and fewer jarring delays." When a product is ready to go, Apple will plan its roll out accordingly instead of trying to work within the predetermined Apple event schedule.