AIRPODS MAX
hear about products for years before
they release and why features often
arrive late to the party. It’s also why
bad products, such as the MagSafe
Duo Charger, are so surprising. Since
the iPod launched in 2001, you can
count on one hand the number of
Apple products that flopped – and you
wouldn’t need all of your fingers.
So when a pair of £549 headphones
come along a week before Christmas
in the middle of a pandemic, they’re
instantly back-ordered until March
before anyone has a chance to even
see a pair in person, let alone hear
them. You might roll your eyes, but the
fact of the matter is Apple has earned
a lot of trust. Its track record over the
years is such that a new product with
an exorbitant price tag sells out before
it even reaches shelves.
Granted, most people won’t fork
over £549 for a pair of headphones,
but those people weren’t willing to
shell out £600 for the first iPhone,
either. Or £399 for the original iPod.
But massive sales are never Apple’s
motivation for launching a new
product. Rather, it’s about making
something that fills a void we didn’t
know was there and fixing problems
we didn’t realize existed. Apple
philosophy of ‘no’ means it won’t ship
a new product unless it can match orsurpass its peers, even if it comes at a
much higher price.
Just like the original iPhone
and iPod, the AirPods Max won’t be
overpriced forever. But its inevitable
affordability won’t bring a reduction
in what makes them worth £549.
It’s not the choice of materials or
the comfiness of the headband that
makes the AirPods Max worth £549
for so many people. It’s the trust
that they will deliver an experience
unlike anything you can get with the
similarly specced Sony XM4 or the
Bose 700 headphones.
Apple’s strategy isn’t about
reinventing the wheel. It’s about finding
a balance between what we want and
what we need in a product that feels
both familiar and new. I’m certain there
are AirPods Max prototypes at Apple
Park that would have been cheaper or
arrived earlier, but that’s never been
Apple’s objective. It’s about delivering
the best possible product in the
simplest package.THE EXPERIENCE
IS THE DIFFERENCE
You don’t have to look hard to see how
Apple’s philosophy of ‘no’ pays off.
The original £399 iPod was written off
as an overpriced vanity project, and it
took years before people realized its