There ’s a neat view in my pet Christmas motion picture , Miracle on 34th Street , where a Macy ’s sales manager is shocked to overhear the section store Santa Claus get off a distraught mother to a contender to buy a toy . But what start as a fireable offense end up becoming a selling scheme , as Macy himself realizes that , counterintuitively , there ’s a benefit to being seen as a depot that care more about its customers than its profits .

Apple , it seems , has taken this philosophy to heart . The company has always put forth the image that it cares more about surprising and delighting its client than about cold arduous John Cash , and on affair it seems to make decision that would otherwise seem counterintuitive to the capitalistic idea of simply glance over in as much money as it can .

This class ’s WWDC announcements were no exception : the ship’s company showed off more than a few features that seem as though they go against the caryopsis of the company ’s line model . But , as with Apple , there ’s always a method to the rabidness .

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You screen, I screen, we all screen

One of the heavy pushes during this year ’s tonic was about spendinglesstime with your devices . Io 12 introduces lineament like Screen Time , which dog not only how much fourth dimension you ’re using your smartphone or tab , but also which apps you ’re spending your prison term in — it even let you lock out apps once you ’ve hit a sure limit . Thematically interchangeable capabilities rent you hide telling , or tweak Do Not Disturb in more berth , include at Nox .

iOS 12 Screen Time

On the fount of it , this idea would seem to be now contrary to Apple ’s business poser . Why would you need people to use your productsless ? But that ’s the affair : Apple does n’t of necessity need you to employ your iPhone or your iPadmore . You ’ve already bought the machine , after all . All it needs to do is ensure that when youdoreach for a machine , or have to make a determination about purchasing one , you opt for one of Apple ’s .

wwdc18 screen time

And , in the meantime , just like Macy himself estimate out , being take in as the company that really cares about your well - being is a great way to build up loyalty in the recollective - term . Especially since Apple and other machine Godhead have recently been pick apart for not caring about citizenry becoming “ addicted ” to their devices . The troupe does n’t even have to play in particular hard to get you not to use your convenience ; it just needs to supply you the information to make that determination ( or not ) for yourself , and it still terminate up looking like the in force cat .

Performance issues

Among the first matter Tim Cook talked about was the upshot of iOS performance . old iPhones are particularly notorious for struggling with more recent translation of the operating system , and Cook has said that Apple is working severely to improve that across the board with iOS 12 .

Apple ’s Craig Federighi sing about improved performance in iOS 12 .

Again , this seems counterintuitive : SurelyApple would n’t want your older speech sound to remain operable , because what motivating would you then have for founder Apple more money to raise to a young phone ? Over the years there have been plenty of conspiracy hypothesis about Apple decelerate down quondam ironware in this kind of force obsolescence , most recently in the kerfuffle around performance choke for battery life-time .

apple wwdc 2018 ios12 performance

But this idea of maintaining carrying into action on old equipment is , I wield , a brilliant one . Think about it this path : Would you opt your customer who ’s in the market for a fresh telephone to be entice by the coolheaded Modern features of your previous product , or get to and tick off that they have to drop a bunch of money on a new phone because their previous one is so slow ? By keeping their quondam devices work well , Apple engenders goodwill — they’re at leasttryingto help their customers get the most out of their money . That goes a tenacious agency to convert people to buy from you again in the future .

Private lives

Then , of track , there are Tim Cook and Apple ’s stands on privacy . This is n’t needfully something that the company — or really anybody — shouldneedto trumpet , but give this climate of data minelaying and online tracking , Apple can demonstrate a competitive vantage by talking about the extent it goes to to keep your data safe and secure .

User privateness was a head of emphasis during the WWDC 2018 tonic .

Again , it certainly seems as though the company could stand to make much more money by delving into its users ’ lives , mining them for all sorts of utile information that they could then turn around and monetise , or sell to a third - company . But bynotdoing so , Apple gets to put away itself as a protector of its customers .

apple wwdc2018 privacy

This feels like one of those rare cases where therightthing to do also happens to be good business . hoi polloi value their privacy , and they ’re pass away to respond to and esteem the company that values it just as much as they do . And that , in turn , leads to even more trueness .

Look , I ’m neither naive nor cynical about Apple ’s motives here : all of this goes to show that , in the goal , the approximation observe your customers and reach a profit don’thaveto be reciprocally exclusive . As Mr. Macy inMiracle on 34th Streetreminds us , being seen as the store that cast public inspection and repair above winnings is a surefire elbow room to convey in more profits than ever before .