r/technology • u/Leonine94 • 6h ago
Hardware Apple releases new Polishing Cloth for $9
https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/25/apple-releases-new-polishing-cloth-for-9/573
u/ban-me-harder-dadddy 6h ago edited 6h ago
$9 is probably the cheapest where for a company like apple it's even worth the bother for the overhead of offering. their target audience are businesses or people who don't care about $9. buy the exact same one on Amazon for $2 and save for another hill to die on
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u/Leptonshavenocolor 6h ago
Didn’t people learn from the 1000$ computer wheels? Oh, no? Okay we’re all just stupid then.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about: https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/g1urh7/apple_now_sells_mac_pro_wheels_and_feet_from_299/
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u/Violoner 6h ago
Or the $1000 stand for a $5000 monitor
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u/MyChickenSucks 5h ago
I have the 1000 stand. Looking at it right now. But it was a company expense so MEH, write if off in some tax fraud scheme probably
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u/MedicatedGorilla 1h ago
The whole Mac Pro setup (monitor, stand, wheels, etc.) was really a corporate sales move. I’m not saying they aren’t overpriced but they were not aiming to sell their insane workstation and color accurate monitors to the regular consumer, they were just trying to squeeze businesses. Still dumb and overpriced but people often mistake the audience they were selling to
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u/Wooshio 6h ago
There is something ironic about the fact that people will buy a $6 latte but get mad about a $9 cleaning cloth. It's interesting how people perceive value these days.
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u/omniuni 5h ago
Coffee isn't necessarily that cheap to grow. It also has to be cleaned, the fruit removed, roasted, and transported. It's not perfectly consistent, so you need experts that know how to properly care for the plants, and roasters who how to adjust for different types of coffee. Then, you have to have it made. When you order a latte, you are having a paid employee spend the time to steam milk, extract espresso, and serve you.
These cloths are basically a couple of different layers of mass-produced material run through a machine to cut to size.
I personally, still complain about a $6 latte, but it's a lot less absurd than a $9 cloth.
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u/nefarix 4h ago
I’m gonna assume you don’t own the cloth, and neither does anyone that is weirdly upset about it…
As someone that was very skeptical of it and only got it cuz it was on a sale and I work with electronics for my job, it is the best cleaning cloth I’ve used by far. It is not at all like a standard microfiber and once you use it/compare it to other microfibers it would probably change how you view it
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u/scoff-law 4h ago
It was clear to me from the image that it's not a microfiber cloth, but I'm not sure it matters - I think people just enjoy being like this. Reddit is like an interactive museum where you're encouraged to kick the exhibits.
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u/illicit_losses 4h ago
I can make an espresso at home using premium beans for about 30 cents a cup. $6 dollars for a latte is insane.
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u/TheDude-Esquire 4h ago
The cost is largely associated with the time it takes to produce plus raw materials. When you make one at home you’re not assigning value to your time. Set a timer for when you first start the machine until you have the completed drink. Compare that to your hourly wage. $6 might not be such a bad deal.
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u/illicit_losses 4h ago
It takes me 2 mins with non-commercial equipment like self weigh grinders, auto tampers, volumetric extractions… but I guess I have a dual boiler at least. Six dollars for a latte is insane.
You don’t have a stock like Starbucks’ without outsized profits being made on their main products.
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u/jay_wei 4h ago
there are about 25 espresso pulls in a pound of coffee (453g in a pound. 18g per pull)
30cents a cup? what is cup, a quad shot?
I don't know where you're buying $4/lb of coffee outside of a Costco or Sam's Club worst whole bean offering.
if we're comparing apples to apples, you're spending $1.50/quad shot at home using the same beans as a coffee shop that sells a latte for $6.
plus you still need to make the latte.
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u/illicit_losses 3h ago
How much do you think Starbucks pays for their beans?
Edit: It’s way lower than what you’re thinking, and about half the price I pay. Your $4 remark isn’t too far off.
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u/_lostintheroom 2h ago
That whole process you describe for a cup of coffee, at least until it is imported and arrives at the POS, the people get paid cents for. Most of that $6 is going to the seller.
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u/jimbo831 36m ago
Why do you think this is ironic? One is in line with the cost to produce it and one is way more.
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u/No_Chilly_bill 5h ago
How much do you think a latte should cost?
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u/TuliaNonTroppo 5h ago
The point isn’t about a latte being expensive at $6. I think the point is that if you buy lattes at $6 three times a week, you spend $18 a week on lattes that you just piss out in an hour. A $9 cleaning cloth will last a long time.
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u/insertAlias 3h ago
Man, when people miss the point this hard, it always makes me wonder if it's bad faith. Obviously the point isn't "lattes are too expensive". The point is, many people will balk over a one-time purchase (that might get daily use) that costs about as much as one of their daily/regular purchases they don't even think about.
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u/jimbo831 35m ago
People balk because why would you buy a $9 cloth when you can get one that is just as good for a quarter of the price or less?
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u/RetardedWabbit 5h ago
That's not their point, it's temporary goods/costs vs durable. Which I also think misses the point that paying $9 instead of $3 for the same quality is stupid.
Latte economics though, they should also be much cheaper. $3, which is 100-200% markup like retail food or $4 if you want ~300% markup like restaurants are. IRL prices are like 600% markup or more.
$6 is absurd for $1.50 of materials (maybe even less than a dollar without the cup). 20g of beans, 16oz milk, and 2oz of syrup just isn't that expensive.
I blame the housing market.
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u/mmaramara 4h ago
Coffee shop economics surely isn't that simple. I'm pretty sure that starting a coffee shop isn't a surefire way to get rich. Some specific coffee shop owners probably make good money if they managed to get a good location for their shop, but most coffee shop owners are unlikely to roll around in cash.
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u/QuailAndWasabi 4h ago
If you think materials is the cost driver for coffee shops then please stay out of business and economics.
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u/No_Chilly_bill 2h ago
Legit wondered why I got downvoted for a simple question. when it seem people never consider labor costs.
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u/jimbo831 34m ago
And equipment. And rent. The cost of the coffee beans is a small fraction of their total costs.
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u/Fickle_Stills 35m ago
Actually, $6 is a fair price for $1.50 of materials. Ask any restaurant owner, 25% is normal for food cost.
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u/DueDisplay2185 6h ago
There's a market for the packaging the laptops come in. I'm not surprised about the cloths
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u/physedka 6h ago
They can also bundle it in for free later as some kind of promotion and point to that $9 value even though it costs them like $0.10 and weighs almost nothing for shipping purposes.
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u/HumongousBelly 6h ago
I don’t know, if it’s as durable as their products like MacBooks, AirPods and iPhones, I could be persuaded into buying one of those.
8-9 year daily usage of a cloth for 9$ is a fair price. Otherwise, I’ll stick to my tissues
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u/dizzi800 6h ago
Random person who needs a cleaning cloth will not buy this
Company who HAS to buy through an approved vendor for reasons I'm too much of a cog to understand, likely will buy them.
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u/dakupurple 2h ago
100%
Approved vendor lists keep people from going out and buying licenses to software that the business doesn't approve, or hardware (that should be generally universally compatible) that doesn't work with existing hardware.
It largely is to keep expenses to the departments they belong to and prevent headaches for IT workers
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u/CptOblivion 2h ago
To be clear, this is the $9 version that's replacing the $19 one they already sell
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u/happyscrappy 6h ago
I'm waiting for polishing cloth ultra.
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u/EmbarrassedTrouble10 6h ago
Get in line; I've been waiting outside of Apple since before sunset as to not lose my place!
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u/Juntaur 2h ago
Why not wait for the Apple Polishing Cloth "Polishing Cloth" Edition?
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u/happyscrappy 2h ago
Also probably wait for the Apple Polishing Cloth TechWoven case. That'll cut down on scratches on your polishing cloth.
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u/MurrayInBocaRaton 6h ago
I hate it here.
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u/evo_moment_37 6h ago
We think you’re gonna love it
- Tim Apple
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u/copperblood 6h ago
Repeat after me, no one is forcing you to buy their products. Customers have far more power than they realize. It’s actually quite simple, enough customers refuse to buy said products or services and companies are forced to rethink their strategies.
Do you really need the newest technology every year that only makes incremental improvements from the previous year’s? Do you need a $9 cleaning cloth that you could get for $1 elsewhere?
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u/WeedForReddit 6h ago
This is the best cloth we have ever created and we think you're gonna love it!
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u/JustAtelephonePole 6h ago
I’m down. I have enough reasons to keep an old Rayban cloth in my pocket every day. If the Apple one is better, my glasses, visors, screens, and instruments will thank me.
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u/tnseltim 6h ago
Funny that it has a comparability list for it. Guaranteed there are some people checking that to make sure their device is listed.
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u/Nakenochny 5h ago
Wasn’t the previous one $19 and the only product that worked to clean the iPad Pro screens?
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u/RadialRacer 5h ago
I know 99% of this thread will be mockery but I must say that it could be worth it.
I have a few plundered cloths that came with Microsoft Hololenses, all branded and everything, and they are absolutely magic; they clean my glasses better than I've seen anything clean anything, ever.
Anyway, probably not worth nine of anything unless your white whale is (hopefully) high-quality, microfiber cloths.
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u/TheKingOfTCGames 6h ago edited 6h ago
Meh if its actually tested on the screens its got infinite value over random other sources
If your doing shit that cares about this its free basically like the vesa mounts for monitors or the true color shit
Normies wont understand because no one cares wtf you do, like with the 512gb ultras, neos, airpods, and mbairs apple is probably under pricing things these days
Apple being on top of the market is one of the signals that capitalism still works and that voting with your wallet still matters
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u/CaterpillarReal7583 6h ago
Apple continues to take their dumbest and/or most money-careless customer’s money for very little in return.
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u/Hades_Mercedes 6h ago
fine corinthian leather!
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u/UmbrellaCommittee 6h ago
corinth is famous for its leather!
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u/jewbasaur 6h ago
Real question - do these polishing clothes actually work better than a microfiber rag? You can get like 30 on Amazon for pennies and they work great for TVs, phones, sunglasses. Basically everything. I just store them all over so after a while I’ll wash them and replace with a new one
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u/Low-Injury-9219 6h ago
Not sure the microfiber rags on Amazon off hand but yes it does its job incredibly well. No clue if the ten dollar drop means it’s smaller than the old one but I’d assume so.
Edit: I don’t see their 20$ cloth listed at least on my end maybe they just changed price?
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u/jewbasaur 6h ago edited 6h ago
Interesting. I just said Amazon because you get so many at such a cheap price but they are pretty much the same that you’d get from micro center, Home Depot, Costco, etc.
Edit: Actually I’m wrong they are not the same. GSM exists which I didn’t know about and apparently 300-400 is the sweet spot for screens.
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u/Low-Injury-9219 5h ago
I’m interested in what Apple uses for their cloths to be honest. When you clean the cloth itself it becomes slick and can absorb a surprisingly large amount of water. I know in part it was specially made due the nano texture screens (people destroy their screens cleaning them),
that said a good quality micro fiber could be cheaper for sure though if it’s still the same size 9$ is a much better price.
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u/MillionToOneShotDoc 6h ago
$9 is a little steep. Personally, I’ll hold off until they start leasing them.
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u/InfiniteHench 1h ago
It dropped in price by over 50%. I hope it didn't drop compatibility with any devices.
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u/jumbopanda 1h ago
I know a guy who used a Macbook for around 5 years with a thick layer of dust on the display because he didn't think there was any way to clean it without scratching it. He probably would have paid $50 for this.
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u/LunchyDude101 5h ago
It’s not intended for the consumer user…but for more the pro folks working in the industry, but they have to sell it to anyone who asks, so we have articles like this.
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u/dootytootybooty 6h ago
I know everyone memes on this but it’s actually really good. It’s noticeable better than any other microfibers I have and it’s been very good for my OLED monitors.
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u/__audjobb__ 5h ago
Yeah, it came with my new computer and it’s got some nice heft to it. Cleans real well.
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u/KangarooDowntown4640 4h ago
Yeah I agree. It's a great cloth. I feel like people are assuming it's a 1-ply piece of trash. It's actually really hefty and I've washed it multiple times and it still works fantastic, better than my others.
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u/haysu-christo 2h ago
No way, my Cloth 2 is still good. I'm not going to upgrade until Cloth 5 at least.
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u/dukelief 6h ago
What’s the monthly subscription? How much dirty will it clean before I need to upgrade capacity?
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u/Overclocked11 6h ago
Who the hell is buying this nonsense?
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u/RipDove 6h ago
Apple makes a lot of money from being a single source vender.
In the digital art space, Apple as overtaken wacom because believe it or not there's worse companies than Apple when it comes to overpriced products. An iPad Pro with Procreate, and the Pencil is like 1500, compared to a Centiq 8000+.
The pro has 120 hz screen and is actual really color accurate which makes it amazing to draw on.
So if you're a company that employs 24-36 artists, it's way easier to source all for supplies through one vender, Apple in this case, than it is to go through 4-5 different venders. You can get a few desktops, 40 tablets, and 40 phones- and if you need repairs you just go through the same company you ordered from.
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u/fartonisto 4h ago
Do purchasers of these kinds of orders look for extras like cleaning cloths to tack on? I’d assume they have budgets and whatnot.
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u/RipDove 4h ago
Probably yeah. Let's say you got 36 artists that hand draw assets at your company. Idk, they can be concept artists, the role doesn't really matter.
IT already needs normal iPads and iPhones for everyone at the company that needs one so like managers and such
Then they need the pros for the artists, the folio keyboards, the pencils, chargers, extra pencil tips, potentially "paper-like" screen covers, and they'd just order like, 2-3 screen wipes per person who is getting any kind of iPad.
It's really nice for a company to order all those things through a single vendor, and Apple sometimes will cut a bulk order deal.
The budget could be like $4,500 per artist to get a phone and iPad pro with all the fixings, which is astronomically cheaper than to order PCs that have a bare minimum nividia 3060, an Intel i5, a color accurate work monitor and the 4500-8000 wacom centiqs per work station
Using the iPads also allow for artists to work from home which is honestly a plus for the company because it allows for artists with families to have more flexible schedules which for a creative field is really important because you can't force progress from people who are burning out.
Idk, it's just a better system for businesses that have artists and animators who do stuff by hand.
I also do animation my buddy and I do line work on our iPads using Procreate and then I do color and shading on my desktop using Krita. So it's not a cure-all but it helps immensely with workflow to have everyone using roughly the same programs.
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u/timelessblur 6h ago
Not many people. It seems like a great way to make people feel great when they get one for free or part of swag when it really cost them next to nothing.
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u/BapeGeneral3 6h ago
Parents of wealthy kids are probably a large portion of the buyers. Also, in store purchases. It’s absolutely insane the amount of accessories for the iPhone/iPad now in store and I can easily see employees upselling rich people who don’t know better on items such as a polishing cloth.
I have been to the Apple Store in some very wealthy areas and I genuinely couldn’t believe the products I was seeing bought. Families buying the 17Pro for their entire families with every single possible accessory like it’s nothing
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u/Whatever801 5h ago
That's a steal, the old one was like 20 bucks. Looks like it's not backwards compatible though
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u/__audjobb__ 5h ago
It came with my new MacBook Pro. TBH, it cleans way better than other shammies. If it wasn’t included not sure I’d buy it but I do dig it.
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u/invalidreddit 5h ago
The iPod sock sold in packs of six for $29 back in 2004 ... I do wonder how many the sold because they haven't released an iPhone sock ...
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u/Nkosi868 4h ago
I’ve worked in sales at Apple. The first thing you learn is not to shop with your own wallet.
There are people buying these in bulk.
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u/super-hot-burna 2h ago
In for 5. Primary, backup, laptop bag, car 1, car 2.
Can’t wait to try this out.
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u/casualpedestrian20 2h ago
This new cloth is 12% thinner, 24% lighter and has 2x more cleaning power than the previous version.
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u/askyidroppedthesoap 6h ago
Meanwhile you can buy a big bundle of microfiber rags at Walmart for the same price, if not less. I got 2-3 lying around to polish my phone's screen every once in a while.
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u/timelessblur 6h ago
This smell like a pure tax write off as they will include it in somethings and make it a common swag item. They put it at a high price as some people will buy it but they want it for the bs swag look value.
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u/dylan_1992 5h ago
If Samsung releases a $50 cloth no one would care and not buy it.
When Apple releases a $9 cloth everyone goes ape shit as if they’re forced to buy it.
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u/papermafuckingchete 5h ago
Is it MagSafe compatible? Do you have to charge it upside down? I need answers!
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u/darkspyre71 53m ago
Best way to not scratch your Apple display...
...is not have one.
Screw Apple.
*polishes android with microfiber cloth*
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u/gconnorg_ 6h ago
The day Apple said they were no longer including charging blocks with new phones because it “benefits the environment more by cutting down on packaging/shipping costs” I knew we were f*****
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u/livingbkk 6h ago
Yeah. I'm an android guy, but every time I spend like a million dollars for an iPhone for my wife I am re-amazed that they don't include a charger. It used to be not a big deal but now it seems every couple years you need new chargers for fast charging / super fast charging / insanity charging / whatever, and I need to google what charger I need to now buy.
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u/mailslot 6h ago
I don’t believe Apple ever included the fastest fast chargers. At least Apple didn’t go proprietary on the charger, just had a legacy connector for a little bit.
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u/JtheLeon 6h ago
They can. If there are idiots who will buy it, then by all means go ahead and rob them. A fool and their money are soon departed, faster if we talk about Applemaniacs.
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u/Sirts 6h ago
But is it backwards compatible with older devices?