Few consumer product companies are as secretive as Apple. Most tech companies for example, will at least show a preview of upcoming products as soon as they are finalised. Some even show tech previews and early concepts at events like CES (Consumer Electronics Show) to get people excited about upcoming technologies such as TV displays, sometimes even years in advance. But Apple has rarely unveiled products before they are ready to ship, with very few high profile exceptions such as the original iPhone in 2007.
The reason for this secrecy is two-fold. First, it prevents disappointment, such as that which was felt by many for the notorious AirPower. The wireless charger that promised to charge an iPhone, AirPods and an Apple Watch at the same time and placed anywhere on the pad, was announced in September 2017. However it was only to be unceremoniously cancelled without release 18 months later, after Apple failed to make good on the promised features.
The more important reason, however, is what Apple calls, “surprise and delight”. The thrill of new products is much greater if the first time people see and hear about it and its features is on stage at one of the Apple’s Keynotes, where the purpose and brilliance of each feature is shown in all its glory. When products and features are leaked slowly, sometimes over a year ahead of a product’s launch, it dilutes that thrill and excitement. Think of how much more exciting it is when you buy the latest gadget when everyone is talking about it, articles and videos are highlighting features, tips and drop tests, friends and colleagues are arguing about whether it’s better than competing products, as opposed to buying it a couple of months later. This buzz of activity around the product adds to the excitement of owning it. So, Apple is extremely strict when it comes to its employees talking about products ahead of a launch, a culture instilled in the company by Steve Jobs, a master of marketing.
If Apple is so secretive and employees at the company are passionate about the products, after all, it hurts the teams who work for years on products, only for them to be leaked before the big showcase, how is it that almost all of the tech giant’s products and feature leak far in advance of their launch events or press releases? The most prominent source of leaks is the global supply chain involving many companies around the world working to get each product to market.
Although each product is, as Apple’s packaging states, “Designed by Apple in California”, hundreds of companies across the globe are involved in the mass production, from individual components like chips, camera sensors and batteries to assembling the end product. Add in accessory makers, who need exact product specifications for things such as cases and the challenge of keeping any product under wraps simply becomes impossible.
So how do rumours and leaks reach the media we consume? The most common way is investor notes from industry analysts like Ming-Chi Kuo. They meet with many suppliers of components that Apple uses in its devices and then take the information from all of them and combine it to get a picture of the overall product. The accuracy of these analysts varies and there is even a tracker that ranks prominent leakers, giving each of them a percentage score. It’s worth noting that the further out from a product release, the more uncertain these rumours are, as of course, Apple themselves may not have made a final decision or could change their mind at the last minute. For most of their devices, decisions will have been finalised at least 3-4 months ahead of launch, as that is the time mass production typically begins in order to ensure enough stock is produced and shipped in time for release and this is where the fun really begins.
CAD designs (highly accurate 3D virtual models) and images of early samples of individual components can and have leaked well before mass production begins. However, once manufacturing begins in earnest, it’s just too difficult to keep components, including the chassis and screen, from leaking in photographs. Thousands of people will have physical access to various parts of the product at this stage, many of them on low pay and as the release date gets closer, the number of leaked images tend to increase.
Various websites have unnamed ‘industry sources’ who provide information and images, with Bloomberg, Mac Rumours and many others providing sourced leaks, but in recent years, a growing number of Twitter-based leakers have joined the ranks. L0vetodream is particularly interesting, providing very short, often cryptic insights like “tag TAG” to indicate two sizes of the rumoured Apple ‘Tag’ bluetooth tracking devices.
Two aspects of Apple devices tend not to leak, at least until the final few days before a launch event; the name and price. While the packaging does show the name, relatively few people will see it before the products are put into blank boxes for shipping and depending on the gap between the unveiling and actually being available to buy, the price is only known to people that need to know inside Apple itself.
The only products that aren’t often leaked far in advance are those that look the same or very similar on the outside to devices already available, but even those are now outed a week or so before they are released, often via press release.
But some leaks may not be leaks at all and may serve to let ‘bad news’ be boring by the time the product is released. Of course, there is no hard evidence that this is the case, but it does make sense in certain cases, such as the iPhone 7’s removal of the headphone jack. At the time the information ‘leaked’, which was fairly early in the rumour cycle, the internet was ablaze with ridicule, outrage and accusations of Apple doing so to make more money from accessories using their proprietary Lightning port, which commands a licence fee. However, by the time the iPhone 7 launched, it was old news to most and just as leaks dilute the excitement of new features, so too did this ‘leak’ serve to nullify the outrage that would have accompanied the new phone had the information come at the launch.
A company that operates at the scale that Apple does, cannot hope to contain rumours of its new products and their features. While it does dilute the launch events, it does help to build up hype around products. It enables an entire industry of news outlets that cover tech and Apple specifically and also provides a steady drip-feed of information for those eagerly awaiting the next Apple product.
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