While Apple has already released a surprising number of new products this year, including the M2 MacBook Pro and M2 Pro Mac mini, 2nd-gen HomePod, and iPhone 14 in yellow, the rest of the year might not be quite so jam-packed. A new report from Bloomberg claims Apple is pushing several planned new products into 2024 as part of a cost-cutting plan designed to avoid layoffs.
In his latest Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman reports that “some projects” planned for 2023 have been “pushed back until next year at the earliest.” Among the products delayed, according to the report, is the rumored HomePod with a screen, as Apple looks to “allocate its research and development budget to more pressing projects.”
Gurman claims the delayed projects are the result of a company-wide effort to reduce costs and avoid the kind of layoffs seen at Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and other tech companies. Among the other measures being taken:
- Teams that traditionally receive two bonuses a year will now receive one bonus in October (though the amount will reportedly be the same).
- Hiring has been frozen for some teams and limited for others.
- Travel budgets have been “significantly” reduced.
- Apple isn’t replacing some retail positions after workers leave and is “taking a closer look at work attendance and hours.”
Apple is expected to launch several new products in 2023, including an Apple silicon Mac Pro and a long-rumored AR headset. Gurman doesn’t say whether either of those highly anticipated products is among the ones being delayed, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see either of them pushed to 2024.
