Why Hasn’t Apple Updated Any of These Products?

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Last year was a busy one for Apple, but as pointed out yesterday by MacRumors.com, there’s a whole bunch of products that haven’t been touched for a while.

This isn’t surprising. If you look beyond Apple’s main products and into the world of accessories and legacy devices, there’s a tonne of stuff that’s still sold directly by the company but which appears to have dropped off the Christmas card list.

This fascinates me. So, I thought I’d give the list a go myself.

This is my take.

iPod touch

I had to double-check, but you can still buy a brand-new iPod touch from Apple – today.

They start at £199 for the 32GB version and go right up to a smidgen below £400 for the 256GB variant. Nestled inside, you’ll find an A10 chip in a device that hasn’t been updated in nearly three years.

The current iPod touch looks a bit like an iPhone SE without the phone bit and with a few different colours thrown in for good measure. I suspect that it’s a great gateway product for kids who aren’t quite old enough to have their first iPhone, or for anyone who… erm.

Oh.

That’s the problem, isn’t it? I can’t think of a reason to buy an iPod touch beyond the junior audience. Indeed, it’s telling that Apple removed the iPod touch’s product landing page during a website overhaul.

What I’d like from an update

If Apple did update the iPod touch, it’d be nice for it to receive the full-screen treatment (yes, complete with the notch). That’d at least modernise the look of the thing and make it an even more compelling gaming device.

Will it be updated?

Nope. Its days are numbered.

Magic Mouse 2

I’ve been using the Magic Mouse 2 at the studio recently. But not through choice; it’s simply the only spare mouse I have to hand for the Mac mini. Every other trackpad is either used elsewhere or welded into the case of a MacBook.

My experience using the Magic Mouse 2 has always sat somewhere between marginally enjoyable and hideously unusable. It’s such an odd device.

The current version of Apple’s traditional mouse was introduced in October 2015. It’s a classic one-button affair with the addition of a touch-sensitive casing that can be used for swipe gestures (which are genuinely useful).

But the Magic Mouse 2 is famous for one thing only: its charging method. To charge the thing, you have to turn it upside down and plug a lightning (ugh) cable into its base.

This looks utterly ridiculous and renders the mouse totally unusable while it’s charging. It isn’t even a case of design over function (although there’s literally no reason the charging port shouldn’t be placed at the front edge of the mouse like every other wireless mouse on the planet) – because it looks so daft. No designer would settle on this, would they?

Apple was rightly pointed and laughed at for quite some time about the Magic Mouse 2.

What I’d like from an update

A sensibly located USB-C charging port and better ergonomics.

Will it be updated?

No. Although it has been marginally updated with new colours to match the 24” M1 iMac, I think this one will quietly slip away as we head into a trackpad-only future.

Apple Pencil 2

The first Apple Pencil was game-changing for so many people. If you were an artist, casual doodler, or digital note-taker, it was a consumer stylus that finally made sense.

But it wasn’t quite right. The material from which it was made was too slippery, it was far too long, and the need to charge the Apple Pencil by plugging it into the lightning port of your iPad was nearly as daft as the Magic Mouse 2’s charging method.

Thankfully, in October 2018, Apple introduced the magnet-equipped, shorter, second-generation Apple Pencil, and it fixed all of those issues. It is wonderful.

But it is over three years old now.

What I’d like from an update

I’m not convinced that Apple needs to change much with the Apple Pencil. Maybe introduce some funky new colours and some additional touch or tap controls. But that’s scraping the barrel.

This really is one of those accessories that has been refined to the point of near-perfection.

Will it be updated?

One day, sure, but Apple knows that it has hit a home run with the second-generation version. So, why rush?

High-end Mac mini

Now, this is, at first glance, an odd inclusion in MacRumors’ list.

When Apple chucked the M1 chip into the Mac mini in November 2020, they made it the most powerful, most capable Mac mini ever.

But if you look back at the Mac mini’s history, there’s always been higher-end versions available for anyone who wants to max out the performance of this little powerhouse. Alas, those configurations (that were previously driven by Intel processors) haven’t been updated since 2018.

But I think we all know what’s going to happen this year.

What I’d like from an update

The M1 Pro and M1 Max chips please, Tim. You can do what you like with the design, as long as it accounts for the thermal headroom needed.

Will it be updated?

Yes. Later this year.

AirPods Pro

Did you know that the AirPods Pro were launched in October 2019 and haven’t been updated since? That makes them nearly two and a half years old. Which I found surprising – they still feel far newer than that.

I think this is because they’re so damn clever. In fact, they might be the most impressive product Apple has launched in the last few years.

No, really. They’re also my most used Apple device. Whether it’s for calls, workouts, podcast listening, or audiobook devouring, my AirPods Pro are always with me. Beyond the iPhone 13 mini, no other Apple device plays such a pivotal role in my life.

What I’d like from an update

Rumours point to a refreshed design for the second-generation AirPods Pro, but I’m not too fussed about that; the current design is damn-near perfect.

There are just two things I’d like from the next version. Better battery life (it’s a smidgen too short at the moment) and support for lossless audio. The latter will have next to no noticeable impact on audio quality for most people, but I want to see Apple build that tech into the next generation because it’ll signal the start of something huge for wireless audio.

Will it be updated?

Yep. I think we’ll see the next version hit the market at the same time as the iPhone 14.

Wrapping up

What do you think? Are my assumptions correct? Let me know your thoughts – particularly if you think there are other Apple devices within the vaults that have also been left to gather dust.