New generation of Apple products

Years ago when I would buy every new shiny device Apple release, I never thought this would ever stop. When Apple released the first iPhone in 2007, there was no 3G. I bought it anyway, even when it was ‘US only’. I paid a huge sum to an eBay seller just so I can own it. Some say they would buy it only when the 3G version is released. I couldn’t understand. The new iPhone, even without 3G or third party apps was just too difficult for me to pass.

It’s a different story now. Whenever Apple releases a new class of device, I intentionally hold myself back. That’s because I’ve finally concede to the fact that the first generation of products are always laden with problems. As a web / application developer, the first version I ship are always inadequate. It’s not that I intentionally ship software clad with bugs, it’s because I can never expect the problems that emerge with real world usage.

That applies to Apple as well. Look at the disastrous iOS 6 Maps debut and iPhone 5 camera glitch. iOS 6 and iPhone 5 are completely new and you bet there are many things to be learnt by Apple when developing later versions.

I previously owned a late 2008 Macbook Pro when it was first introduced. It had a completely new chasis – unibody. And as usual, Apple tout it as the fastest Macbook Pro ever produced. And little do I know, new iterations of the Macbook Pro was eventually released at an alarming rate. It got better continuously over a very short time rendering my first generation unibody Macbook Pro completely obsolete. Not to mention the slew of problems that slowly appear with regular use.

So when the first generation of Retina Macbook Pro was announced, I told myself not to get it until the next iteration, at the very least. It’s extremely tempting knowing that the whole screen is retina. It doesn’t help either when I find myself playing with it like I’ve never seen it before whenever I visit an Apple store.

The iPad mini is the next product I am resisting. The next version will no doubt have retina display. I can already visualize the team at Apple introducing it at the next keynote – “The NEW iPad mini – with retina display”. And people will be buying it in droves. And I will be one of them.