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The iPhone is in trouble.
Scratch that – smartphones are in trouble; lock, stock, and two smoking bezels.
I’ve noted on multiple occasions that, unless a device flips or folds – or has a pointlessly over-specced camera system – it is utterly dreary. You wouldn’t take it out for a beer. You’d avoid it at the water cooler. You’d do everything you can to prevent yourself from bumping into it at the supermarket.
The iPhone is the epitome of this problem. It remains Apple’s main driver of revenue and is arguably the most well-built, fluid, and ecosystem-centric smartphone on the market.
But it looks the same as it has done for years. Apple’s superstar product has simply grown in size, become ludicrously more powerful, and fought a never-ending battle against bezels, ports, and front-facing camera housings.
Are you still awake at the back? Good – let me explain why the latest iPhone 15 rumours demonstrate my point perfectly.
The latest iPhone 15 rumours
Next month, we’ll be treated to a new iPhone and with just a few weeks to go until the big unveiling in California, the iPhone 15 rumours are beginning to solidify.
There are four ‘big’ updates on the way for Apple’s smartphone. The first is, inevitably, the camera system, which is likely to receive its biggest upgrades at the top end of the lineup in terms of focal lengths and zooming capabilities.
This is expected. Par for the course. An annual event. And not particularly exciting; iPhone photography is already more capable than most users require.
Next up, we have the possible addition of an ‘Action Button’. This will replace the iconic iPhone mute switch and is inspired by the button of the same name on the Apple Watch Ultra. Users will be able to program it to instigate stuff like the flashlight, voice memo app, and specific focus modes.
Some industry commentators have called it ‘controversial’. It isn’t; it’s just a new button.
We’re also probably going to see slightly larger displays on the Pro and Pro Max models due to a 30% decrease in the bezel size. Yep, that’s right – Apple’s war on bezels shows no signs of abating. Nor is it getting any more interesting.
Lastly, the Dynamic Island is, we’re told, going to make its way onto the non-Pro iPhone 15. This is a feature which, as any iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max owner will tell you, becomes predictably irrelevant the more you use the phone. I’m barely aware of its existence these days.
My Nothing conclusion holds weight
I recently pitched the Nothing Phone (2) against the iPhone 14 Pro Max. I knew that some people would view it as a daft comparison – which it absolutely is, at first glance.
There was a method in my madness, though. The comparison between a mid-range smartphone from an Android upstart and the world’s leading flagship revealed a frighteningly small gap.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a better camera system and a considerably faster chip than the Nothing Phone (2). It also has access to an ecosystem with which Carl Pei’s device simply cannot compete.
But that’s it. If Pei and co. add a couple of lenses and the latest Snapdragon chip to their device, it’s basically an iPhone with a much more interesting operating system and some flashing lights on the rear casing.
The battle would then become one of marketing might and ingenuity and the aforementioned ecosystem. The latter isn’t for everyone, and the former isn’t necessarily a guaranteed win for the company with the largest bank account.
It’s a battle I think we’re going to see intensify over the next few years – and that is exciting.
What can Apple do?
Apple is safe. They’re not doomed and I’m pretty sure Tim Cook isn’t waking up in the middle of the night with cold sweats relating to the future of the iPhone. Despite slowing sales, the iPhone still has serious momentum and it does benefit eternally from the one thing I’ve mentioned constantly today – the Apple ecosystem.
Apple’s smartphone is unlikely to remain the company’s key revenue driver, though. It still accounts for over 50% of the money Apple makes, but how long can that remain the case while the smartphone market as a whole continues to stagnate and head in the opposite direction?
The iPhone 15 is, I’m afraid, going to be a boring release. But you can say the same about most long-standing, flagship-centric smartphone launches these days. Camera tweaks, minor design modifications, and huge, meaningless specification numbers are what we’re ‘treated’ to now that the real innovation has naturally slowed.
Apple isn’t doing anything wrong – they’re doing as much as they can and are willing to do until foldable display technology meets their exacting production requirements. When that happens, we’re in for some very exciting times indeed.
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6 Comments
Don’t understand your constant craving for excitement. Most people want kit that works properly and upgrade on a 3 year cycle so the phones are a massive improvement each time. I know this is no good for a podcaster but that’s real life.
I don’t crave excitement (smartphones haven’t been exciting for a long time), but the fact remains there are far more interesting phones out there than the iPhone – that is Apple’s challenge.
Hi Mark. You say there are far more exciting phones out there but none of them are Apple based, so the rest are irrelevant as far as most Apple users are compared. Fancy tricks like folding or flashing lights are just gimmicks to try and sell android phones against other android phones. Not one has excited me and I assume many others to jump ship, from our walled, stupid, overpriced garden that we work, rest and play in.
I have to use android phones and windows laptops and they are crap. None link with one another, I can’t even transfer simple stuff from one to another. None of this in mentioned in the exciting new world of Samsung, google or dell.
I do enjoy your work and know you have to “think different” ( where have I heard that term before) in order to make new and ‘interesting’ comments and blog stories.
I will remain a boring old fart who doesn’t need excitement just kit that works reliable each time and dose what I need.
Keep up the good work.
I don’t need excitement in a phone. And then there is the “I love this…now I don’t.” Used to love the iPhone and Apple ecosystem – now you seemingly want us to abandon stuff that works for Android, foldable phones, and who knows what next. The real problem you seem to have is finding something to nitpick about Apple so you have another blog post. There is little here for users anymore – and the same face-amazed photos for every post. Bye Bye!
Dave Lee from Dave2D said a while ago “Smartphones are just commodities now”. Yup.
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