Apple hints at unannounced 'new platforms' in job listing
With the debut new product categories promised by Apple in 2014 will likely come entirely new platforms, and a fresh job listing from the company discloses that such plans are in fact currently in the works.
A newly advertised opening for the position of "Instrumentation Design/NPI Engineer" posted by Apple this week, and first discovered by AppleInsider, seeks a hardware expert that will help usher in the introduction of new products. That Apple is working on new products is no surprise, but the listing also mentions that the position will cover all of the company's existing major platforms, as well as "new platforms as of now unannounced."
Apple's current business is driven by its iPhone, iPad and Mac platforms. While each of those has grown with the introduction of new hardware and form factors, their respective operating systems offer users familiar, consistent experiences across a variety of products -- for example, the software experience on the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display is identical.
But the new job listing suggests that Apple is working on a new way to experience its devices, whether future platforms are based on existing iOS or OS X platforms or represent something entirely new.
The new position advertised by Apple is described as "always moving," and will also cover the Mac, iPad, iPhone and assorted accessories. The incoming member of Apple's New Product Introduction team will serve as hardware engineering test design lead.
As for what new platforms Apple could be working on, the most obvious potential choice could be a wrist-oriented operating system for the company's anticipated "iWatch" accessory. Rumors of such a device have persisted for months, but have picked up considerable steam at the start of 2014, suggesting that the introduction of such a product could occur this year.
After not introducing any major new products in early 2013, Apple has promised that this year will be different, pledging launches throughout 2014. And in an interview last week, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook pledged that his company will enter "new categories" with its upcoming products.
A newly advertised opening for the position of "Instrumentation Design/NPI Engineer" posted by Apple this week, and first discovered by AppleInsider, seeks a hardware expert that will help usher in the introduction of new products. That Apple is working on new products is no surprise, but the listing also mentions that the position will cover all of the company's existing major platforms, as well as "new platforms as of now unannounced."
Apple's current business is driven by its iPhone, iPad and Mac platforms. While each of those has grown with the introduction of new hardware and form factors, their respective operating systems offer users familiar, consistent experiences across a variety of products -- for example, the software experience on the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display is identical.
But the new job listing suggests that Apple is working on a new way to experience its devices, whether future platforms are based on existing iOS or OS X platforms or represent something entirely new.
The new position advertised by Apple is described as "always moving," and will also cover the Mac, iPad, iPhone and assorted accessories. The incoming member of Apple's New Product Introduction team will serve as hardware engineering test design lead.
As for what new platforms Apple could be working on, the most obvious potential choice could be a wrist-oriented operating system for the company's anticipated "iWatch" accessory. Rumors of such a device have persisted for months, but have picked up considerable steam at the start of 2014, suggesting that the introduction of such a product could occur this year.
After not introducing any major new products in early 2013, Apple has promised that this year will be different, pledging launches throughout 2014. And in an interview last week, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook pledged that his company will enter "new categories" with its upcoming products.
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After not introducing any major new products in early 2013, Apple has promised that this year will be different, pledging launches throughout 2014. And in an interview last week, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook pledged that his company will enter "new categories" with its upcoming products.
I hope that they come out with an iPhone Mini with a 3.5 inch screen! I like to use one hand on my phone, and I want my iPhone to fit into my pocket.
This is an erroneous statement.
Apple introduced several major new products in 2013 although Apple did not introduce any major new product categories in 2013.
[URL=https://jobs.apple.com/us/search?jobFunction=MKTPM#&t=1&sb=req_open_dt&so=1&j=MKTPM&lo=0*USA&pN=0&openJobId=31049682]App Store Manager: Health & Fitness, Medical and Utilities[/URL] posted on February 7, 2014.
Resolved an issue with the link per Flaneur.
In addition, Cook said early last year new prods will be issued in 2013 and 2014. So we knew a long time ago that will be a case.
That link didn't work. The job is under Corporate, Marketing, on the first page.
https://jobs.apple.com/us/search?jobFunction=MKTPM#&t=1&sb=req_open_dt&so=1&j=MKTPM&lo=0*USA&pN=0&openJobId=31049682
Apple didn't introduce any new products in the first half of 2013, and by the looks of it 2014 two to be much different.
I have the feeling we will see something before WWDC or at WWDC this year.
Didn't Apple just recently hire all those health experts? I don't see iWatch being ready until at least 2015. My feeling is that there will be no new categories this year.
There is definitely an easy argument to be made to support your feeling but I sure hope you're wrong.
You are correct except you should consider the "iWatch" a sensor package providing data to Apple iOS devices. Furthermore, the device will almost certainly gain significant functionality in future generations.
Apple didn't introduce any new products in the first half of 2013, and by the looks of it 2014 two to be much different.
If by "new products", you mean "new models", that would be incorrect.
They introduced the MacPro 13" Retina on 2/13/13 along with two 15" models. And they introduced the MacBook Air (Haswell) on June 10th.
There was also an iMac that wasn't sold through the Apple website that was introduced in March, 2013: Model ME699LL/A ($1099)
In addition, the IPad Retina with 128GB of memory was not released with the other iPads in October of 2012 - it was released on 2/5/13. (Models ME400LL/A, ME401LL/A, ME410LL/A, ME411LL/A, ME406LL/A and ME407LL/A).
And the latest models of Time Capsule and Air Port Extreme were also released in June of 2013.
So I count at least 13 products released in the first half of 2013 and that (obviously) doesn't include custom build options.
I guess I should have been more clear. I meant no new product as in an announcement worthy of a keynote/event.
IMO, that should only be reserved going forward for new platforms or totally new product lines, except perhaps in the case of a current product that makes a giant technological leap forward or a totally new form factor, but it would have to be a really big leap. A case redesign won't cut it. No one cares about more memory or cheaper storage or a faster processor anymore. That's why after almost every Apple announcement, the stock price falls.
If the next iPhones and iPads are only incrementally improved from the current line, I don't think there should be a keynote/event to introduce them. It should simply be "par for the course".
In addition, Cook said early last year new prods will be issued in 2013 and 2014. So we knew a long time ago that will be a case.
From 2013 Q2 Conference Call (April 2013)...
Q: you alluded to fall announcements of products. Does that indicate there are no substantial new products until September?
Tim Cook: I don't want to be more specific, but I'm just saying we've got some really great stuff coming in the fall and across all of 2014.
Here's what Tim Cook said in a year end employee memo:
If there's nothing new this year but a refresh of existing products (even if it includes an iPhone with a bigger screen) there will be calls for Tim Cook to resign. And I won't be totally against it. Of course I want Apple to release stuff only when it's ready but there's only so long Cook can keep promising new stuff and only doing refreshes of existing products.
Why is Cook expected to produce more and faster than Jobs? Jobs came on in 1997 yet the first new product category, the iPod, didn't come out until 2001. After that it was the iPhone in 2007. The iPad is somewhat of a fluke since they mostly had to include a larger display and rework the iOS GUI, but even that took 3 years. Since Cook took over there have been some amazing releases, especially in the Mac lines. Don't get me wrong, I want a new product category to be released this year, but I don't want a half-finsihed product category to be launched simply for the sake of following some made-up timeline that never existed in the first place.