Apple Cuts Polishing Cloth Price to $9 From $19

Q: Why did Apple slash its Polishing Cloth price to $9 without saying whether anything actually changed?

Apple appears to have cut the Polishing Cloth’s price mainly as a pricing and positioning move, not because it announced a meaningful redesign. Based on Apple’s store listing and the related coverage, the only confirmed change is the drop to $9 from $19. Apple kept the same core description: a soft, nonabrasive cloth safe for Apple displays, including nano-texture glass. That suggests a few likely business reasons. The old $19 price became a widely mocked symbol of Apple accessory pricing, so lowering it makes the product easier to justify as a routine care item rather than a novelty purchase. It also better fits Apple’s broader support guidance, which emphasizes careful cleaning of screens and especially nano-texture surfaces that can be damaged by improper materials. The price cut may also reflect scale and product strategy. Apple now has more devices and displays tied to its cleaning recommendations, and a cheaper cloth could encourage more users to buy the official accessory instead of third-party alternatives. Because Apple has not disclosed any material, size, or design changes, there is no evidence yet that the lower price is tied to a downgraded or overhauled product. So the most evidence-based answer is that Apple likely wanted to make the accessory more accessible and less controversial on price, while keeping its role in the Apple care ecosystem unchanged. Until Apple says otherwise, the reduced price—not a documented product change—is the story.

3 articles · Updated · The Verge · Aug 25

$9 is the new price for Apple’s polishing cloth, a $10 reduction from the previous $19 version now removed from its website.
Apple’s description appears unchanged: the cloth is still made of soft, nonabrasive material and is marketed as safe for any Apple display, including nano-texture screens.
The compatibility list also looks largely the same, covering devices from the iPhone 5 onward rather than the newly released Mac Mini and Mac Studio themselves, which have no screens.
The unusual price cut stands out against Apple’s broader hardware refresh, where the cloth changed little beyond becoming cheaper.