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By Dan Moren for Macworld
How the old products Apple keeps around are crucial to its success
This past week saw a slew of fancy new devices from Apple: iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches. But as significant as the latest models in the company’s lineup are, you may have also raised an eyebrow to see a few devices that not only aren’t brand new but are, in fact, a few years old.
Apple has developed a strategy over the last few years of keeping its older products around, for a variety of reasons. It’s a bit puzzling at times, as those products often end up looking like eyesores when put up against the company’s current lineup, and yet they stick around—sometimes for years. (Remember the MacBook Pro that had an optical drive? Or the 21-inch non-Retina iMac?)
It’s hard to argue with results. Apple’s sales performance has been staggering in the last decade, and while we don’t know how these older devices impact the bottom line, they remain an important part of the company’s sales strategy nonetheless.