Apple Polishing Cloth

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Polishing Cloth is a small piece of off-white microfiber cloth sold by Apple Inc. since October 2021 as a screen cleaning aid for its laptops and mobile devices.[1] It is also intended as a replacement for the cloth that comes with Apple's monitors such as the Pro Display XDR, and is designed for cleaning the 'nano-texture glass' version of the monitor with.[2]

The cloth gained media attention due to its high $19 retail price.[1] The New York Times described this pricing as "bold even by Apple’s standards, a company whose legions of loyal customers are conditioned to stomach steep prices."[1] Nonetheless, it was Apple's most back-ordered item in October 2021, with delivery times of several months.[1] The expensive cloth and its popularity were soon the subject of numerous jokes in the media and on social media,[1] which in turn provided grounds for criticism of the media for providing Apple's extravagances with free advertising.[3]

The tech website iFixit 'disassembled' the cloth as part of a tongue-in-cheek product teardown, describing it as being composed of two layers and having "a distinct synthetic leather feel (...) with a hint of fuzziness, similar to Alcantara."[4] The cloth also has the Apple logo embossed in the bottom right corner.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wakabayashi, Daisuke (2021-10-29). "Apple's Most Back-Ordered New Product Is Not What You Expect". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
  2. ^ Song, Victoria. "Apple Wants You to Pay How Much for a Polishing Cloth?!". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 2021-10-30. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
  3. ^ Song, Victoria. "The Apple Polishing Cloth Is Everything Wrong With Society". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
  4. ^ a b Goldheart, Sam (2021-10-30). "2021 MacBook Pro Teardown: A Glimpse at a Better Timeline". iFixit. Archived from the original on 2022-06-11. Retrieved 2021-10-30.