Apple has a new AirTag that’s better at finding lost things. If only it could help find the goodwill Apple lost when CEO Tim Cook chose to party at the White House on Saturday.
There’s a lot of Apple news to unpack — and unbox — this week, between new gadgets, subscriptions and scandals. In this week’s episode of One More Thing, which you can watch embedded below, I dive into what may have Apple fans feeling lost.
Watch this: Testing the New AirTag, While Tim Cook’s White House Visit Sparks Apple Boycott Calls
We start with our first new Apple product of the year, the 2nd generation of the AirTag. It looks the same, it costs the same, but throws in a few handy features for helping hunt for your lost keys. I unbox it alongside the original model and get into what we’ve learned from testing with managing editor Patrick Holland.
Regardless of new trackers, many Apple fans spoke out about the company losing its way. Calls for an Apple boycott grew loud on social media after photos surfaced of Cook at the White House last weekend. He attended a VIP party for the Melania Trump movie screening, just hours after the world watched video of the brutal killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minnesota.
Cook did eventually address it in a letter to his staff, shared by Bloomberg. But the statement was pretty bland compared to the ways Cook previously spoke out against racism and violence, immigration bans or privacy rights.
Is the angry mob in my social feed a sign of consumers pulling back from spending with Apple? We’ll be watching how the pressure impacts company behavior.
This is just the start of a busy year for Apple. This week it also launched a new subscription service for a creative suite of apps, called Apple Creator Studio. But not everyone may be jumping for joy at the chance to be hooked into a subscription to get the latest features for their apps, instead of just paying to own a program. But what do consumers actually own anymore?
For more One More Thing, subscribe to our YouTube page to catch Bridget Carey breaking down the latest Apple news and issues every Friday.
