Complacency vs Criticism – An iPhone 15, Apple, & Tech Analysis

Jado

The Apple Wonderlust event recently introduced the new iPhone 15 lineup with exciting improvements, but concerns have arisen alongside them. Personally I’m planning on upgrading to the iPhone 15 Pro from an iPhone 11–should be a big upgrade! I’ve researched and watched the event live, and I’ll have to say (although I love the Apple ecosystem and am biased towards Apple) I think Apple (and probably other companies) gets a bit of unfair criticism at times. The flip side could be said about complacency or praise as well. The reactionary and inaccurate narrative though that “nothing changes” among iPhone launches, comes around each year along with other questionable, concerning, and frustrating opinions. Let’s delve a little deeper…

First of all, the iPhone 15/15 Plus actually had a decent update. It features an updated design (Dynamic Island, matte finish, new colors). The iPhone 15 also introduced an improved processor, “Ultra Wideband” chip, and display (improved brightness). The camera was also pretty souped up with a 48 MP sensor over the previous 12 MP sensor. Last but not least, a USB-C port (with USB 2 functionality) replaced the Lightning port as is popularly talked about. In reality, the iPhone 15 featured a quality set of updates.

As for the iPhone 15 Pro/15 Pro Max, a titanium chassis and action button replaced the aluminum chassis and mute switch respectively. Once again, USB-C (with USB 3 functionality) was introduced in Lighting’s place. The iPhone 15 Pro also introduced an improved processor and “Ultra Wideband” chip. Camera improvements and features were notable as well, especially the improved optical zoom on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The iPhone 15 Pro was a nice, but arguably modest upgrade in general.

Now let’s look at some of the competitors. As impressive and capable as they are, the Samsung Galaxy S23, Nothing Phone (2), and Pixel 7 Pro models for example, each didn’t receive huge updates over their respective predecessors (they featured software/internal improvements and slight design updates). They may have higher specs in some categories and lower prices than their iPhone counterparts, but to be fair, Apple has been able to do relatively fine in part due to their hardware/software control and design. I would say that there isn’t as big of a difference between Apple and its competitors as some would like you to believe.

What I would say about Apple is this. Apple implemented cool and respectable features, changes, and improvements this year. Could the company be doing more? Absolutely. For one, the exterior design of the iPhone lineup for example has stayed relatively similar over the last few years. Should Apple be doing more? Ideally. Radical innovation from one of the biggest companies in the world would be amazing. Other companies are introducing/utilizing folding displays, under-screen fingerprint sensors, etc. where Apple is yet to implement. However, when you look at the features and internal improvements of the iPhone, there has been progression, competition, and similarity to competitors as I previously implied. In addition to that, Apple often waits longer to implement new technologies or ideas potentially due to reliability and quality standards or ideals. So, criticism is fair, more innovation is essential, complacency isn’t ideal, objectivity is important, innovation is happening, and competitors aren’t that much different in some aspects as you might think.

In conclusion, it’s important to be objective from all angles and perspectives in the world of technology. It’s also important not to set double standards and remember that often companies have a lot in common, and that they’re designing and implementing improvements and new technology all of the time. Sometimes it’s more significant than others. The reactionary and inaccurate narrative that “nothing changes”, comes around each year alongside tech launches, and that should be abstained from. Could tech companies be doing doing more though? Yes. Should they be doing more? Once again, ideally so. Criticism is fair, and excessive complacency or praise should be abstained from. As tech enthusiasts, I believe it’s important to see past broken criticism and complacency. Criticize where criticism is due. Be objective. Praise where it’s due. Don’t grow complacent. It’s all about balance. What do you think?

Menguelez

Jado I can understand you but I think Apple should do more, it is a technology giant and its products are not cheap, the USB-C port was changed by law, otherwise they would continue using lightening, for example.

Heyo

Jado I very much agree with you, and there are countless things that could be said about this issue, but my main thoughts are this:

Could Apple be doing more?

Yes, of course they could. There are countless ways they could ‘innovate’ to match the Android flagships out there right now. But as much as we may want that, the simple fact is that Apple doesn’t care - and honestly, they really don’t have to. The lead Apple has in terms of sales and capital (money) is so far ahead of everyone else, that they don’t really have to try to keep up. They aren’t really trying to bring a whole bunch of people over from Android. They have built such an audience, that if they were to ‘innovate’ too much, they would risk alienating a large part of their audience. The main driver of iPhone sales is current iPhone users. From my perspective, the simple fact that Samsung even made a foldable phone was to try to ‘excite’ people away from Apple as much as possible. Clearly, it’s not making much of a dent.

It’s still an incredible device.

As ‘boring’ as the iPhone may be to us, it’s still an incredibly well-made phone. And to @Jado’s point, it is quite an upgrade for people with older phones - which is exactly the target market. They aren’t necessarily trying to entice every iPhone 14 owner to upgrade, they’re looking for the iPhone 12 and older crowd to splurge for a new one. In that sense, they nailed it IMO.

Apple pretty much exists in a vacuum.

The sheer size of the company alone, combined with their insane bank account means that they essentially can do whatever they want, and they’ll still sell a zillion phones. We haven’t really ever seen a company in this position, pretty much ever in human history and they’ll continue to have this insane amount of market power for decades to come.

Tim Cook’s (Apple CEO) real customer isn’t consumers - it’s the shareholders.

This is arguably the biggest problem with a fully capitalist economy; Tim Cook’s primary job every year is to make the shareholders happy. If he doesn’t, then eventually they’ll replace him with someone else. He keeps the shareholders happy by playing it safe with the company’s biggest money maker - the iPhone still brings in something like 60% of Apple’s revenue and they still maintain a 60% profit margin on the darn things. Their primary job is keeping shareholders happy.

My full review on the iPhone 15 Pro is coming soon, but I am torn about it. It truly is a beautiful, capable, top-quality product, even though it may not be as ‘exciting’ or ‘innovate’ as I (a self-proclaimed techie who actually cares about those things - definitely NOT the target market) want it to be.

We truly do have to look at things from a broad perspective.

Yamilion

apple has absolutely no and no changes are expected in the near future, in any case, there will definitely be no changes regarding the design of the new iPhones

Jado

Great analysis Heyo! Thanks for your insight. I largely agree with you. It’s a deep and complex topic. Apple is in a pretty unique state. It’ll be interesting to see how the market evolves…

Menguelez

A bit of humour 😅🤣

Jado

Menguelez 😂