One more thing: there are no more surprises in Apple product events

Steve Jobs makes a ‘one more thing’ announcement at a live Apple product event.

This past Tuesday, Apple Inc. introduced its latest line of iPhones in a special pre-recorded event that showcased iPhone 17 and an extra thin iPhone Air.

Along with showcasing the latest Apple Watches and Airpods, the event lasted just over an hour. It included introductions from Apple CEO Tim Cook plus key Apple staff, as well as customer testimonials, music and ads to showcase it all. You can watch it here. 

Unfortunately for me, I knew in advance almost every product that was introduced, down to the new iPhone Air.

Thanks for spoiling it, Mark Gurman.

Gurman is a tech writer for Bloomberg News who covers everything Apple like Helen Thomas covered the White House once upon a time. The author of the Power On newsletter, Gurman had already detailed almost everything Apple debuted, down to the specs of the iPhone Air and cameras in the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

I didn’t want to know any of that before I watched the Apple event. I long for the days of the “One More Thing” that the late Steve Jobs would surprise the audience at Apple product events. I was just as surprised and awed as everyone else when he pulled the first iPod out of the pocket of his Levi’s in 2001.

Watch Jobs make some “one more thing” introductions in the video below.

I’m not sure how Gurman gets his info, but I assume it must come with Apple’s cooperation or willfully ignoring his insider scoops. Reporters and podcasters that I follow seem happy with the situation because Gurman’s reporting gives them something to discuss on an ongoing basis from week-to-week.

I realize that all of this doesn’t matter to about 99.9% of the public, but as a long-time Apple Fanboy, it’s a big deal. There was time that Jobs was so obsessed over keeping future products secret that he took steps like issuing memos with slight alterations sent to different employees to catch leakers.

Just as it should be.

Oh, and one more thing. I long for the pre-COVID years when Apple’s product events were all performed live in front of an audience and streamed to the rest of us. It was way more fun when new Macs or iPads or software were introduced by Jobs or Phil Schiller or Craig Federighi, and demoed right on the stage.

That was live theater, and I loved it.

But here we are in 2025, and we all can predict  virtually every new product in advance as a pre-recorded Tim Cook introduces it as Apple’s “best ever.”

No suspense. No surprise. No one more thing.

Get off my lawn.

UPDATE:

Here is what Jason Snell, former editor of Macworld magazine who has covered Apple for decades, had to say about new product developments that are leaked to the public.

I’m a Mac (fanboy): Apple ads across the years

Imamac
John Hodgman (left) as PC and Justin Long as Mac (Apple photo)

It’s no secret that I’ve been an Apple fanboy ever since I first read about the company and how it was founded in the 1970s in a Cupertino, Calif., garage by two guys named Steve.

In fact, my first computer was the Apple II, which brought personal computers to millions of people back in the day.

I’ve also been a fan of its advertising campaigns across the decades. Along with its groundbreaking technology, Apple has always taken a different and memorable approach to advertising its products.

But it gained notoriety in 1984 with the debut of the Macintosh.

Apple’s 1984 Super Bowl ad, which skewered IBM while introducing the Mac, is hailed as perhaps the most groundbreaking ad ever. It only aired one time. In case you missed it or it’s been a while, you can play it below.

Then, co-founder Steve Jobs left the company when he was fired by John Scully, the CEO he hired. Apple wandered in the wilderness for a decade before Jobs returned, first as interim CEO and then with the full title.

One of Jobs first and most memorable acts upon his return was to launch Apple’s Think Different campaign. I loved it, and apparently millions of other people did, as well. The company’s sales began to soar. Watch the ultimate Think Different ad here, that celebrates The Crazy Ones.

Another well received Apple ad campaign was known as the Switcher ads, featuring regular people who had switched from PCs to Macs.

My favorite Apple ad campaign of all time was the I’m a Mac campaign that ran from 2006 to 2009. I’m a Mac was actually a series of short vignettes starring Justin Long as the Mac and John Hodgman as the PC.

Long was one cool dude, while Hodgman was hopelessly uncool, out of date and out of touch with popular culture.

But mostly, the ads were funny, which hooked me immediately.

Although it’s been 12 years since the ads were aired, you can easily find them on YouTube. Here’s my favorite I’m a Mac ad of them all, featuring Patrick Warburton, who also played “Puddy” on Seinfeld.

Enjoy the comedy.

BREAKING NEWS: Just saw this from the Wall Street Journal about Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. became the first U.S. company to reach $3 trillion in market value, the latest milestone in a pandemic-era surge that carried shares of the iPhone maker and other large technology companies to unprecedented highs.

Apple shares crossed the milestone when they topped $182.856 Monday. The share price has more than tripled since the pandemic lows of March 2020, adding around $2 trillion in market capitalization.