6 Changes Apple Should Make to Its Product Lineup ASAP

Apple devices are some of the best-loved products on the market for a variety of reasons. Despite that, Apple's current product lineup isn't perfect. But, it could be improved with just a few key changes.

These may not be perfect solutions to stagnating product growth, and Apple will probably do just fine thanks to its Services sector. But there are still positive changes that would undoubtedly help Apple gain some ground in some key areas and regions. Continue reading to learn 6 Changes Apple Should Make to Its Product Lineup ASAP.

6 Make the 12-Inch MacBook Cheaper

The current Mac notebook lineup is incredibly confusing, mostly due to the fact that there’s little reason to buy a 12-inch MacBook since the release of the 13-inch MacBook Air (which happens to be more powerful, is less expensive and only nominally larger and heavier).

Apple could benefit greatly from a sub-$1,000 MacBook. At the very least, the company needs to release a new notebook at the previous MacBook Air’s $999 price point. Looking at the current Mac lineup, there’s doesn’t seem to be any benefit to keeping the 12-inch MacBook at its current starting price.

5 Switch to USB-C, Bundle Fast Chargers

Apple has already paved the way for a switch to USB-C with its new iPad Pro devices. Because of that, there’s really only one way forward: ditch Lightning entirely and switch all of their devices to the more ubiquitous standard. Needing separate accessories to charge an iPhone and iPad Pro is just clunky.

The company will likely do so eventually, but there are still a number of devices that retain a Lightning port. Either way, going all-in on USB-C has its own set of benefits. On a similar note, Apple should get onboard with other smartphone manufacturers and starts packing fast-charge compatible bricks with their iPhones.

4 Release an Affordable HomePod, Upgrade Siri

HomePod was Apple’s first foray into the booming smart speaker market. To be clear, the first-party Siri speaker is a premium device with the build and sound quality to match. But Apple isn’t going to be able to compete in a space dominated by $49 Amazon Echo Dot and Google Home Mini devices.

To succeed in the smart speaker space, Apple could learn a couple things from success stories like Amazon and Google — who both have clocked record sales. Apple needs to seriously upgrade Siri and release a significantly cheaper HomePod. There just isn’t any other way forward in this particular product segment.

3 Drop iPhone Prices

By now, you’ve probably noticed a common theme here: Apple should release cheaper devices. We don’t believe in the "Apple tax," but it’s impossible to argue with the fact that iPhones, iPads and Macs have only gotten more expensive over the last few years. For premium and pro devices, that’s perfectly justifiable.

But it’s unfair to more casual consumers on a budget to have to buy aging technology with mediocre specs. Of course, the iPhone XR was a step in the right direction. But Apple needs to go further to continue to compete with Android handsets that pack flagship-level features into sub-$600 price points.

2 Refresh the iPad mini and iPhone SE

Apple’s smaller devices haven’t received much love from the company in recent years. The iPad mini is long overdue for a refresh, and the Cupertino tech giant has officially killed off the 4-inch form factor when it stopped selling the iPhone SE.

There were rumors pointing toward refreshes for both products. And while an iPad mini update may be on the way, we can only hope that Apple will refresh the iPhone SE as well. Bigger isn’t always better — Apple should stop alienating fans of smaller tablets and smartphones.

1 Simplify Its iPhone Monikers

This probably isn’t a deal-breaker, but it’s still a positive change Apple could implement — as we’ve previously written. Put simply, Apple needs to simplify its iPhone monikers. “iPhone, iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Plus” could be a lot cleaner than its current lineup.

That’s especially true when we consider next year’s iPhone lineup. If next year’s flagship is an iPhone 11, will Apple continue to use Roman numerals — iPhone XI? Using “X” and “Max” probably weren’t the best ideas, and there’s basically no downside to a vastly simplified naming scheme.