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Apple’s latest product? A pricey polishing cloth

If you somehow missed it, Apple has just released some new kit that includes upgraded MacBook Pro laptops and AirPods earbuds, as well as new colors for its HomePod Mini smart speaker.

It also released a brand new product called Polishing Cloth, though it made no mention of it during Monday’s online presentation. Shame. It would’ve been fun to see Tim Cook or Jony Ive’s replacement attempting to wax lyrical about the new product, but instead, the tech giant quietly added the cloth to its online store without saying a word.

Apple's new Polishing Cloth.
Apple

If you want to get your hands on the Polishing Cloth, you’ll have to give Apple $19. For that you get a piece of presumably really soft cloth, as well as … er, that’s it. And you’ll have to be patient, too, as it takes at least three weeks for the item to ship.

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On its product page, Apple says the cloth, which features the company’s logo in the bottom right corner, is made with “soft, nonabrasive material,” adding that it “cleans any Apple display, including nano-texture glass, safely and effectively.” It might even clean an Android device.

What it doesn’t tell you is its size, so it could be as small as a postage stamp or as large as a beach towel, though it’s probably somewhere in between.

Click on “compatibility” and the listing dramatically expands to include just about every Apple product you can think of. It’s a rather curious list. Yes, you can use it on your ancient iPod Shuffle, but only on the fourth generation, apparently. You can also use it to spruce up your iPod Nano, but unless it’s the seventh generation of the device, keep the cloth well away.

If you’re in the market for a polishing cloth but don’t want the Polishing Cloth, we suggest you check out Digital Trends’ own suggestions that start at a more reasonable $5 and top out at $13, the pricier option including five soft cloths as opposed to one.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
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