Apple Polishing Cloth
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 intended as a replacement for the cloth that comes with Apple's high-end monitors such as the Pro Display XDR, and is the only cloth Apple customers are instructed to clean the "nano-texture glass" with.[2]
The item gained public attention because its price, $19, was an order of magnitude higher than that of similar items sold by other companies.[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, 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 features the Apple logo.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ Jump up to: 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. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
- ^ Song, Victoria. "Apple Wants You to Pay How Much for a Polishing Cloth?!". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
- ^ Song, Victoria. "The Apple Polishing Cloth Is Everything Wrong With Society". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Goldheart, Sam (2021-10-30). "2021 MacBook Pro Teardown: A Glimpse at a Better Timeline". iFixit. Retrieved 2021-10-30.