There is a risk, if you do something for long enough, that you will forget why you started doing it in the first place. And don’t realize that you’ve turned a once-useful activity into a ritual of cargo worship.

Take the Apple special event. These were once some of the most electrifying experiences in the tech industry. Start with a revolutionary product launch (iMac, iPhone, MacBook Air), sprinkle in some dazzling Steve Jobs, and fill the auditorium with a crowd so prone to screaming they should be tested for whooping cough, and the The result is, well, magical. .

Why would you hold an event to advertise your product, when events cost money and cause great inconvenience to everyone involved? Why not just ship the devices directly to stores and spend money on advertising? Because the person-to-person experience has no equal when it comes to sharing enthusiasm. Because seeing is believing. And because a one-time event encourages people to plan their week around what you have to announce, ads simply encourage them to use the remote.

Apple still holds press events – it held one last month – but they’re completely different these days. No one can do what Steve Jobs once did, but his role is filled by a rotating cast that does its best to come close: Tim Cook as the announcer; Jonny Ive (until his departure) as a mystical evangelist; Craig Federighi as the friendly gag man. Some can match the founder’s know-how, but none can match his staging, his ability to generate anticipation and make an event unmissable.

Additionally, Apple has largely abandoned the live event idea. This policy began as a pragmatic response to COVID-19, but continued well beyond the point where it was medically useful because the company recognized the secondary benefits. Pre-recorded events carry no risk of product malfunction (like Federighi’s). unhappy experience when Face ID was unveiled in 2017), require less logistical organization and allow presenters to go through a greater volume of material in less time. But they also remove the whole purpose of press events, which is to make the public feel like they’re part of the story, like they’re there when something happens. arrived. There’s a reason Rolling Stones tickets cost $150 and Rolling Stones DVDs cost $10.

With all of this in mind, I can’t pretend to be particularly sad to discover that the rumored October event will instead be a week-long series of announcements, likely through one or three press releases. Many of Apple’s meetings could have been as simple as an email; this one really will be. And I suspect little will be lost.

I admit that opting for press releases over an event isn’t a very promising sign, in the sense that Apple would probably hold an event if it thought the announcements would be significant enough to warrant one. And for this reason, we should not expect anything this week, despite Greg Joswiak’s speech optimistic choice of wordsto rival the original iMac or MacBook Air in terms of excitement. But did we expect that? And has the company let boredom stop it from hosting events in the past? The September event was pretty boring overall, and I suspect it was habit rather than a sense of urgency that led Apple to send out invitations for this occasion.

In fact, here at Macworld we’re expecting some announcements this week that might not live up to that “exciting” label, but should be important and useful. Apple has a lot of Macs to unveil: the M4 versions of the iMacTHE MacBookProand the Mac-minithe latter of which is likely to feature a real physical overhaul, something Mac fans haven’t seen in a while. The Mac mini is a key product in Apple’s ecosystem, much like the iPhone SE and 10th generation iPad, but because it’s not a “pro” device, it likely won’t get never gets the stage time he deserves.

This week (today actually) will also mark the public launch of Apple Intelligencewhich will arrive with the iOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1 updates. Whether this will officially tie into Exciting Week remains to be seen, but the joy of a week, as opposed to an event, is that you don’t have to limit the number of things you talk about, or even come up with a cohesive theme . Who knows, we might even get a press release on the essential 11th generation iPad… although I rather doubt it.

Ultimately, the main reason it’s better than an event is that it’s easier for journalists to cover. We don’t need to sit through a two-hour presentation taking notes like a maniac, then write them for six hours while focusing on pizza and vanilla rooibos. We can cover announcements at a leisurely pace, as they come in, and give each one the time and attention it deserves.

And if there’s anything more exciting than quiet working conditions, I’d like to hear about it. Have a great, exciting week everyone.

Foundry

Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in one handy summary. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it pairs really well with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you also want to read it during lunch or dinner hours.

Trending: Featured News

Apple confirmed ‘A exciting week of Mac newsstarting today!

With iOS 18I love your iPhone is a real chore.

Why the “iPhone SE Plus” do more meaning than you think.

Apple Intelligence arrives at Fix iPhone Notification Mess-Finally.

Revealed: How Apple create your passwords.

A day in the life from CEO Tim Cook: The hunt for Mountain Dew Diet.

Apple forces Jason Cross to turn to Google because Siri won’t do it this simple thing.

Revealed: THE real cost of the iPhone 16.

The new iPad mini is only boring because the the next model will be amazing.

Podcast of the week

Apple is ready to release iOS 18.1and with it comes Apple Intelligence, Apple’s much-hyped set of AI features. In the latest episode of the Macworld Podcast, we talk about what we can expect from iOS 18.1 and how it will affect the way you use your iPhone. We can also see new Mac M4.

You can watch every episode of the Macworld podcast on Spotify, Sound cloudTHE Podcasts appOr our own site.

Reviews corner

The rumor mill

Have no fear, Mac M4 are always coming “very soon”.

Apple is working on a new App Store just for games, report complaints.

Apple bargain in early 2025 understand MacBook Air M4iPhone SE, iPad Air, 11th generation iPad.

More RAM, more ports and soft black space? The new MacBook Pro M4 could finally everything is fine.

Software updates, bugs and issues

Apple will finally repair iPhone 16 freeze/reboot bug with this week’s update.

iOS 18.2 beta is available with many new Apple Intelligence features.

Apple updates the firmware on older versions of AirPods models 6F21.

And with that, we’re done for this week’s apple breakfast. If you would like to receive regular summaries, subscribe to our newsletters. You can also follow us on Facebook, TopicsOr Twitter to discuss the latest Apple news. See you next Monday and stay Appley.