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Yes, this. The M2 design has been finished for some time to allow plenty of time for testing. Same with products. I always find it hilarious when "journalist

Yes, this. The M2 design has been finished for some time to allow plenty of time for testing. Same with products. I always find it hilarious when "journalists" write articles about how Apple is still debating X vs Y for some hardware feature on the next gen phones due in 3 months. No chance. Hardware is hard and takes big lead times and huge amounts of testing.

vlovich123 5y ago
That is typically true. However, when developing risky new HW, it's not uncommon to have all variants built & do a late-binding decision. It's expensive but it gives SW & HW engineering more time to flush out a marquee feature (e.g. I don't doubt that FaceID may have had TouchId as a fallback until late, although probably not as late as a month or two before announcements).
- bredren 5y ago
  We’ve also seen some unexpected stumbles leading to late changes. The failed release of shaped batteries in the 2016 MBP [0], and the jet-falls-off-the-aircraft-carrier release of AirPower. [1] I generally agree Apple makes plans in advance and follows through on them. However, the company seems to push very hard on some product release deadlines and sometimes they miss. [0] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-20/how-apple-alienated-mac-loyalists https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-20/how-apple... [1] https://www.bloombergquint.com/technology/apple-cancels-anticipated-airpower-wireless-charging-accessory https://www.bloombergquint.com/technology/apple-cancels-anti...
- dev_tty01 5y ago
  I agree on some products, but not at iPhone scale. They do pilot runs months in advance to shake out issues. When you sell several million in the first release weekend you have to build stock and fill the channel. They may choose not to enable something in software, but I really doubt they are making HW changes. Last minute HW changes lead to big failure rates, which is just too costly in terms of reputation and cost.

vlovich123 5y ago

That is typically true. However, when developing risky new HW, it's not uncommon to have all variants built & do a late-binding decision. It's expensive but it gives SW & HW engineering more time to flush out a marquee feature (e.g. I don't doubt that FaceID may have had TouchId as a fallback until late, although probably not as late as a month or two before announcements).

bredren 5y ago
We’ve also seen some unexpected stumbles leading to late changes. The failed release of shaped batteries in the 2016 MBP [0], and the jet-falls-off-the-aircraft-carrier release of AirPower. [1] I generally agree Apple makes plans in advance and follows through on them. However, the company seems to push very hard on some product release deadlines and sometimes they miss. [0] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-20/how-apple-alienated-mac-loyalists https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-20/how-apple... [1] https://www.bloombergquint.com/technology/apple-cancels-anticipated-airpower-wireless-charging-accessory https://www.bloombergquint.com/technology/apple-cancels-anti...
dev_tty01 5y ago
I agree on some products, but not at iPhone scale. They do pilot runs months in advance to shake out issues. When you sell several million in the first release weekend you have to build stock and fill the channel. They may choose not to enable something in software, but I really doubt they are making HW changes. Last minute HW changes lead to big failure rates, which is just too costly in terms of reputation and cost.