MacworldWhere I grew up, youd often hear the phrase, Dont get your hopes up! Not in any kind of discouraging, Dickensian sense, I hasten to add. Merely a friendly warning that high expectations often lead to disappointment. Were a cynical bunch in the British midlands.But Apples upper management come from more sunnily optimistic parts of the world. The company started 2024 with sky-high expectations, anticipating the imminent launch of two vitally important, long-gestated projects: Vision Pro, and Apple Intelligence. This would be the year when all the sacrifices were shown to be worth it.Perhaps inevitably, however, the big build-up was followed by the big let-down. Vision Pro went on sale in February, and the critical response was strong; but sales could never live up to those lofty expectations. Tim Cook himself admitted that its simply not a mass-market product. Right now, he told the WSJ, its an early-adopter product.The problem isnt with the product, which has lots of potential, although the price and weight do both need to come down. The problem is with society, which isnt yet ready to transition from the smartphone to whatever comes next. Apple needs to be ready for the next phase of consumer technology, hence the importance of the Vision Pro project. But it cant force customers to move on before theyre ready.Speaking of unready, Apple Intelligence was another of 2024s damp squibs, partly because so many of its features werent available as part of the initial rollout. iOS 18.0, disappointingly, contained no Apple Intelligence features at all, so we had to wait until 18.1 in late October. (That, youll note, is long after the launch of the iPhone 16, which was sold as being made for Apple Intelligence.) Many of the most interesting elementsImage Playground, Visual Intelligence, Genmoji, ChatGPTdidnt arrive until iOS 18.2 this month. And if you live in the European Union, or speak any language other than English, you dont get to join in until 2025.Of course, building an AI platform from scratch takes time, and Apple is to be commended for releasing features when theyre finished rather than foisting unreliable software on its users. But the thing with having the worlds greatest marketing machine is that people tend to get their hopes up. Fans were led to believe that Apple Intelligence would transform their lives, and were understandably miffed when it turned out to be underwhelming and incomplete.Its fortunate, then, that Apples marketing machine doesnt apply its hype to every product equally. Two of the companys big successes of 2024 were (comparatively speaking; this is Apple were talking about) sleeper hits. Launches that caught us at least somewhat unaware, emerging from the shadows of costlier and more celebrated siblings to scoop up positive reviews and strong consumer interest alike.The 4th-gen AirPods, which were announced in September, did exactly what was asked of them. They looked and sounded great, and adopted key features from the Pro models without increasing the price. We think theyre fantastic.The new Mac mini, too, delivered that blend of quality and value that customers love and Apple finds so tedious. It got a petite design and delivers superb performance at a manageable price. The only problem is the way it makes the Mac Studio look, well, gratuitously expensive.We know that Apple doesnt like to release appealing cheap products, because it would much prefer for us to buy the expensive ones instead. But were reaching a stage in the consumer tech industry where cheap products really are good enough for 99% of users 99% of the time, and Apple needs to learn how to thrive in that world. Vision Pro is a very nice, ludicrously expensive device that doesnt really do anything necessary. The way to impress todays consumers is to find a way to meet their needs at an affordable price. Its all a question of knowing how to make a well-judged compromise.But ultimately, the main lesson is that youre far more likely to have a good time if you remember not to get your hopes up.FoundryWelcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but its cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.Trending: Top storiesThe Macalope has picked his worst takes of 2024Got a new iPhone over the holidays? Do these things firstHow about a new Mac? This is where to startThe Apple Watch needs a fresh startApples 2025 will be anything but boringPodcast of the weekThe Macworld Podcast took the week off for the holidays.You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast onSpotify,Soundcloud, thePodcasts app, orour own site.Reviews cornerZimaCube Pro: Versatile and speedy NAS monsterMophie Powerstation Mini 5K Gold: A smart and stylish power bankHarber London Leather MacBook Sleeve: Sophisticated travelThe rumor millApples quest to build a smart home platform might include a Face ID video doorbell.iOS 19 is expected to support iPhones going back to the XR.Software updates, bugs, and problemsHow do I find Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.2?And with that, were done for this weeks Apple Breakfast. If youd like to get regular roundups, sign up forour newsletters. You can also follow uson Facebook, Threads, or Twitter for discussion of breaking Apple news stories. See you next Monday, and stay Appley.