Yahoo Finance Apple’s $19 Screen-Cleaning Cloth Sets High Bar for Brand Extras
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc.’s biggest debut on Monday was undoubtedly its MacBook Pro overhaul, but the company also unveiled a polishing cloth with its signature logo debossed in one corner. Price tag? $19.
Most Read from Bloomberg
The Top Money Maker at Deutsche Bank Reaps Billions From Singapore
Forget Palm Springs—Santa Fe Is the New Mecca for Modern Architecture
Google’s Biggest Moonshot Is Its Search for a Carbon-Free Future
Beef Industry Tries to Erase Its Emissions With Fuzzy Methane Math
The accessory, listed as compatible with iPhones as far back as the iPhone 6 and Macs dating back to 2012, is made of nonabrasive material and is already in short supply, requiring 3 to 4 weeks to ship. On Amazon.com, premium microfiber cloths go for $1.50 each, putting Apple’s new Polishing Cloth in the running for its highest-margin physical product.
The Cupertino, California-based company has a history of pushing price boundaries with its products and accessories. The iPhone was the first smartphone to approach and surpass the $1,000 mark and it’s only grown in popularity since then, dragging the rest of the mobile industry along. In 2019, Apple introduced an updated Mac Pro with a top configuration option costing more than $50,000. The accompanying Pro Display XDR monitor sells for $4,999 -- without a stand. The Pro Stand that Apple sells is a further $999.
Purchasing the new MacBook Pro 16-inch model with an M1 Max processor, 8TB of storage and an abundance of memory would set buyers back in excess of $6,000. Like the Polishing Cloth, such a machine would take as long as 4 weeks to ship, though unlike the cloth, the laptop has cutting-edge features and capabilities that have earned positive responses online.
Apple’s New Products Should See Strong Demand: Street Wrap
Apple’s vertiginous pricing doesn’t always work out. In 2015, it introduced the Apple Watch Edition, a $17,000 wearable with 18-karat gold casing. But customers balked at paying so much for technology that would quickly become outdated.
Apple later struck a balance between luxury and practicality with its watches. It now has watch bands for $49 and a Hermès Fauve Barénia Gourmette Double Tour version for $849.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
How Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Gwyneth Paltrow Short-Circuit Your Ability to Think Rationally
Homeopathy Doesn’t Work. So Why Do So Many Germans Believe in It?
These Out-of-Work Americans Tell Us Job Market Turmoil Is Anything But Transitory
Jane Fraser Has a Plan to Remake Citigroup While Tormenting Rivals
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
