In an interview at the ongoing Code Conference, Apple’s Senior Vice President Eddy Cue said the firm’s forthcoming new products were the best he’d seen during his 25 year stint with the firm. Naturally, he stopped short of saying why, or providing any details about the products, but he was certainly enthused.
Walt Mossberg quizzed Cue over the statement, asking if he truly believed it, and added that in 25 years we’ve seen the MacBook, the iPhone, the iPad, and the iPod – all strong products. Cue wasn’t about to go into detail, and only replied that he “truly believed” this year’s new line-up was Apple’s best for a quarter of a century.
We’re used to hearing similar quotes from Apple. CEO Tim Cook has been teasing us about the company’s 2014 range since late last year. In an earnings call, he said new products would be coming out during 2014, and they represented “significant opportunities” for the company. In his year-end memo to Apple employees, he mentioned “big plans customers are going to love,” would arrive over the coming year. It was the same story in April, when Cook said “I feel great about what we’ve got coming.”
Companies hyping up future products is nothing new, but Apple does so in a very distinct way, and never goes as far as talking about the segment which they’ll occupy, where they’ll end up fitting in the range, or anything solid at all. It’s a stark contrast to the endless rumors and leaks which surrounded many of this year’s major smartphone releases, such as the Galaxy S5 and the LG G3.
Drawing attention to what it has in store for us also comes at the right time. Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference kicks off on June 2, with the traditional keynote speech promising plenty of news about iOS 8, OS X, and we’re hoping, a few surprises too. We doubt any will be hardware related – sadly – and fear we’ve got to wait until September to find out what has blown Eddy’s socks off this year.
