Apple is no doubt busy crafting and manufacturing fall updates for many products. There will be new iPhones, maybe a new Apple TV, and perhaps updated iPads. There might even be something new in the Mac universe due to Intel beginning to ship those more powerful and energy efficient Skylake chips.

But not Apple Watch, which debuted in April and only needs an OS update to come into its own. But if Apple needs to fix something to make this product hot for the holiday season, you can bet they’ll do it on the software side of things, not to mention spending a bundle on promotion.

When it comes to the iPhone, it’s sort of predictable, or has been since the product debuted in 2007. A new design appears, and the following year, the same casings are used, with minor modifications, but internal parts are enhanced. So there will likely be an iPhone 6s and an iPhone 6s Plus, with brand new components. That means a rumored A9 processor, perhaps a better camera with more megapixels (maybe with 4K support), and enhancements to Wi-Fi and LTE. There may even be Force Touch, since Apple already debuted that feature on the Apple Watch and assorted gear from the MacBook line.

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Last week, Apple announced that some eleven million people had signed up for the 90-day free trial of Apple Music. Depending on your point of view and expectations, that was either good, or not-so-good, for the fledgling subscription music service.

Apple treated the news as something significant, that 1.4% of the estimated 800 million iTunes users had become subscribers in a little over a month. Some critics felt that Apple could and should have done better, and maybe it was partly about reports of ongoing glitches. So there were the usual cloud-based bugs involving storage and syncing of music libraries. Although the feature set was expansive, some felt that the interface was far too busy for comfort.

So the For You feature is supposed to present a compilation of albums that suit your tastes. When you sign up for Apple Music, Apple merely copies the original Beats Music setup, where you select from a handful of musical genres, and a handful of musical artists. That starts the ball rolling, but depending on the songs, the ones you love and the ones you reject, the system will come closer to understanding your music profile.

Over time, Apple Music appears to have acquired a better handle on what I like, which includes classic rock, some pop, a little country rock, and a little classical, not to mention a rare show music album. So, after several weeks of listening and selecting my favored tracks, I no longer see Tom Jones and Barry Manilow on the list, though I’m not at all certain why Eddy Arnold, a pretty traditional country act with an easy listening slant, is included. Maybe I’m not training it enough.

But the real issues are far more serious. There have been reports of missing songs, the addition of DRM to tracks you already own, and various and sundry music library sync issues. Now of course it’s nothing unusual for anything related to iCloud to be flaky. Apple has had ongoing issues with their online services, and it’s been the source of lots and lots of complaints.

This is not to say that other companies don’t have issues. The other day I read a piece from a blogger explaining why he was switching from Windows 10 to Windows 8.1. Before your jaws drop, one reason cited was syncing, so Microsoft no doubt has cloud-based problems too.

The problems with Apple Music became more prominent when a noted blogger, Jim Dalrymple, of The Loop, someone with connections deep inside Apple, reported on his problems, and they were pretty dire. So in addition to all the flakiness, he reported that he lost some 4,700 tracks for which he had no backup. In passing, I won’t rag on Jim for failing to have a backup before making such a significant commitment to a new, untested service. But Jim did say he had enough, that he was dropping Apple Music.

Most of Jim’s problems were resolved during a visit he paid to some of his contacts at Apple headquarters. It appears that the option to use the iTunes Music Library was unchecked at some point in the setup process. One notable bug in iTunes 12.2.1 was the curious phenomenon of this setting suddenly turning itself off. Most of Jim’s files were located, but there were some Ozzy Osbourne tracks that somehow turned up missing. Jim is taking the blame for mistakenly deleting them during the course of diagnosing his problem.

Apple also promised to fix Apple Music glitches.

Well, on Thursday, Apple delivered two app updates designed to clear up some Apple Music issues. They arrived in the form of a 12.2.2 update for iTunes and iOS 8.4.1 for iPhones, iPads and the iPod touch.

Among the new iTunes features is the ability to see a list of the artists you’re following by clicking on the Account menu. Also fixed is a curious issue where the app would lose its place when you went back a page in Apple Music. Clicking on the Beats 1 banner will display the station’s schedule, there are improvements for Connect, and your local iTunes library will now sort artists in the proper sequence. Right-click menus are also fixed.

Nothing was mentioned about mysteriously unchecking iCloud Music Library, but it’s not as if Apple is necessarily forthcoming about all the changes in a maintenance update.

As to iOS 8.4.1, the update reportedly addresses issues that would make it impossible to turn on the iCloud Music Library, and another that would hide music you’ve added if you choose the option to only display offline music. There’s also a way to add songs to a brand new playlist if there are no existing playlists from which to select, and yet another where different album artwork would be displayed than on other devices.

This is all pretty subtle, except for the first, but a bug is a bug and fixes are welcomed.

Some issues are also described in Apple’s support documents, where some confusing settings are more carefully explained. Unfortunately, Apple Music was thrust upon people without much information about the fine details, nor on the consequences of choosing the wrong setting.

In going through all of this, I can’t help but feel that it was rushed upon us, to give the company time to clear up the worst problems during the summer ahead of doing a full fall promotion. The key, I suppose, is to make it work properly when it comes time for you to actually pay for the service.

There are a few tech columnists who spend a great deal of time correcting misinformation about Apple. But it’s easy to feel the effort is wasted, because the serial misinformers continue to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt. A good reason for this is that mentioning anything about Apple, iPhone, iPad, Macs and even Apple Watch is certain hit bait. The post will get more hits even if the contents are utterly bogus, or have very little connection to what’s in the headline.

Even when the story seems reasonable, something might be tossed in that assumes facts not in evidence.

So, among the rumors about the next iPhone, is the claim that Apple intends to use a stronger aluminum alloy to reduce the alleged “bendgate” effect. Now having a tougher case is certainly a good thing, but the story assumes that there was actually a scandal involving the alleged susceptibility of an iPhone 6, and particularly the iPhone 6 Plus, to bend in one’s pocket.

As far as Apple is concerned, there is no such problem, and the number of complaints were said to be very low when the problem was first described and displayed in someone’s YouTube video. Tests from Consumer Reports magazine indicated that the iPhone 6 Plus was perfectly solid under abuse, and SquareTrade, a company that sells extended warranties for a variety of products, did their own tests. The iPhone passed with flying colors.

It doesn’t seem there were loads of complaints after the initial video was posted — and it’s hard to know if that phenomenon was deliberately manipulated through extra abuse performed off-camera — so it’s not as if a problem really exists. So why assume that it does?

But I’d be curious to see how this all plays out when the next iPhone is introduced, and how big a deal Apple might make of this alleged stronger casing.

There’s also the assumption by some that the Apple Watch has been an abject failure. Even if the low-end figures were accurate, somewhere above two million units were sold in the first nine weeks, mostly a time when there was a severe backorder situation, that’s pretty good. No other company has come close, and Apple has clearly sucked the air out of the room.

All we have to go by, other than the increase in sales in the “Other” category in Apple’s financials, and guessing the figures for other products in that category, is the claim that Apple sold more Apple Watches during that initial period than the original iPhone and the original iPad during comparable periods. That doesn’t mean the Apple Watch is destined to be more successful than the iPhone, at least over the next few years. But it has to count for something.

Sure, Apple should have been more forthcoming about the numbers. Yes, they did make the decision last year not to reveal them, but it’s not as if the competition doesn’t have a pretty good idea anyway. The lack of those figures breeds skepticism, the feeling that Apple Watch isn’t doing as well as Apple expected. It doesn’t matter if key executives praise sales to the skies. Show us, don’t tell us!

The skeptics have an argument here, even if it’s very speculative.

This fall, after release of WatchOS 2, which allows for native apps and other new features, we’ll get a better picture of the product’s potential. Still, Apple didn’t create an entire ecosystem for a product that will vanish from the store shelves in a few months if it doesn’t take off right away. This is clearly a multiyear project, and it’s not at all certain what the potential for a smartwatch might be.

Aside from sales, the critics are also attacking Apple by suggesting the price is too high. Cheaper smartwatches will be cited as potential competitors. Sometimes cheaper wearables will be included too, even though they aren’t even watches.

A real competitor would be something that more or less is intended to match up with the Apple Watch in terms of basic features. Consider, for example, an iPhone 6 and a Samsung Galaxy S6. They play in the same space, and thus comparisons are valid. A cheap Pebble smartwatch may have useful features, and it’s certainly affordable, but that company isn’t exactly playing in the same space as Apple, which prides itself on offering the Apple Watch as a luxury timepiece.

Yet another argument against Apple is that the next iPhone refresh won’t be terribly compelling since, as Apple does every other year, the same basic form factor will be retained. Apple doesn’t play the same game as Samsung, which has made Galaxy smartphone refreshes look a little different year-to-year even if it’s slight. All right, the S6 refresh was more significant, bringing the product closer in looks to the iPhone, although that move doesn’t seem to have helped flagging sales.

That’s just a part of what’s going on with Apple critics and fear-mongers, but it’s not that they will ever let facts get in the way.

Usually the tech media has a handle on a new iPhone in the weeks before it’s released. That information is usually based on leaks from the supply chain, and when they come fast and furious, it’s possible to sort out the essence of the upgrade. But that’s just the essence.

So we knew in the spring of 2014 that Apple was working on larger displays, and the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus weren’t exactly surprises. Surprising, instead, were the high sales, and Samsung’s sales growth stopped in its tracks, particularly at the high end. You see, it became clear that Samsung’s sole compelling reason for customers to buy their stuff was a larger display. After Apple answered that need, what was left? Lots of useless features that barely worked?

Now if past is prologue, the next iPhone refresh will be “minor,” leaving the external look essentially unchanged, with most of the changes within. So there will probably be support for Force Touch, if only because Apple has that feature on the Apple Watch and new MacBooks. Some rumors suggest it’ll also be a tad thicker to accommodate the extra electronics.

The rest of the expected changes appear also to be incremental, with better LTE performance, an A9 processor, 2GB of RAM, not to mention a beefier camera with 12 megapixels. In recent years, Apple has stayed with 8 megapixels, but continues to improve lenses and other elements to enhance picture taking capability. There may even be a stronger aluminum case structure to make it even more difficult for the handsets to bend under severe abuse.

But that would mean taking the “bendgate” claims seriously, even though the iPhone tests more than satisfactory in formal abuse tests.

Now if Apple actually changed the exterior look, swapping out all or most of the internal workings would amount to a major upgrade. But since the look appears to be the same, even if extra colors are added, it must otherwise be a minor refresh. The looks are everything, and it doesn’t matter what parts are being replaced.

That may not make much sense from a logical point of view, but you’ve heard this argument about iPhone upgrades every other year. The song is always the same, which is why some industry analysts are predicting lackluster sales. It’s as if people who bought last year’s iPhone are looking for reasons whether to upgrade to this year’s model, but that’s not the target audience. Yes, some of you have one of those special wireless packages that lets you upgrade every 12 months without paying a penalty, or even more frequently. But the usual upgrade cycle is every two years.

So to most of the people who might buy the next iPhone — assuming it looks the same as the current model — would find it quite different compared to what they have. They would  be upgrading from a model with a 4-inch display after all, such as the iPhone 5s.

True, Apple’s stock price has been down in the dumps since record sales and profits were reported for the June quarter. That plus conservative guidance, and reports of economic woes in China, have combined to make some financial analysts skeptical about Apple. Sure, it is quite possible the China problem might slow  sales, since that country has been a key factor in revenue growth in recent years.

That, however, would be true for any tech company who depends on China for a decent portion of sales. However, that doesn’t mean there will be no growth, and the aspirational buyers who are lapping up gear from Apple may just keep buying. The numbers for the September quarter might give a clue.

While that situation might impact future sales, it doesn’t reflect on the quality of the next iPhone refresh. That’s true even if the so-called iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are exactly as pictured on the rumor sites. It’s not as if they are making things up. The level of detail does appear to indicate actual products and not just mock-ups. It’s also true that speculation about a future iPhone refresh tends to firm in the weeks before release. So while Apple might have a few tricks up its sleeve, or hardware features that aren’t being predicted, the basics are out there already.

But this is par for the course for Apple. Hardware refreshes are rarely sufficient, though it’s hard to say that about the 2013 Mac Pro upgrade, the 12-inch MacBook, or even the iMac with 5K Retina display. Operating system upgrades are also said to be minor unless there’s a new theme, or a new system font. Deep hardware changes aren’t taken seriously.

So it’s perceived that iOS 9 and El Capitan are minor updates designed strictly to improve performance and fix bugs. But compare the changes to Windows 10 or the latest versions of Android and you’ll see that Apple is being very competitive. Consider, with Windows 10, that the most important feature is the return of a working Start menu, and the Cortana virtual assistant. The new Edge browser is fundamentally a slimmed down version of Internet Explorer built on a fork of the very same rendering engine. That, and a few window management enhancements, cover most of what would directly impact customers.

The story never changes.