Apple is reportedly moving away from annual launches

If there’s one thing we can usually set our Apple Watches to, it’s Apple’s schedule of releases. There’s a spring event with Macs, WWDC in June with all of the OS previews, September is for iPhones and Apple Watches, and October is dedicated to Macs and iPads. Apple occasionally deviates from that routine, but for the most part, that’s the annual schedule. If you’re buying something, you can plan ahead.

But according to Mark Gurman, writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Apple isn’t interested in continuing that cycle. In a detailed report that examines Apple’s strategy and the problems it has caused, including the delay of Apple Intelligence and other key products, Gurman points to the Apple Watch Ultra 2’s new color as a sign that Apple is shifting away from updating products to fit a timeline and instead saving features “to make a bigger splash.”

Notably, Gurman suggests that Apple may “abandon the mad scramble to get OS features ready for release in September” and switch to a “staggered” approach beginning next year. He implies that Apple may even consider moving the iPhone launch to a different month to “help tie the hardware launches together with those new software features.”

Apple launched the iPhone 16 last month without Apple Intelligence, one of its main features. Gurman’s report suggests that the staggered rollout is at least partially responsible for the shift in strategy. The first Apple Intelligence features are expected to arrive on October 28, more than a month after the iPhone 16 hit shelves. It should, however, ship with the first round of M4 Macs, which are due to arrive in October.

It’s not clear whether the shift in announcing iOS features would change the date of WWDC or the keynote content. Apple could still announce iOS and macOS at the June event but maybe hold back features or give a clearer roadmap for when they will arrive.