Which then begs the question - whoever decided that the next iPhone had to have all these features? Or else what?
This to me is what I find problematic with so much of the tech commentary going around. There is too much focus on specs and not enough on the user experience. There is not enough of “how does one use this product to get more out of technology”.
The way I prefer to analyse Apple is to first start with Apple, and then I analyse the industry that Apple operates in. Instead, what I see a lot of people still doing today is that they just treat Apple as any other company. But Apple does a lot of things differently, and if all you are doing is simply compare Apple to everyone else and then go “Hey, Apple isn’t following what everyone else is doing, so I don’t think whatever Apple is doing is going to work”, I think you are all going down the wrong path.
And honestly speaking, I do feel you are all overhyping certain features just because the iPhone doesn't have them (and particularly because you all know the iPhone doesn't have them). I won't say no when the iPhone does get them, but I won't hold off on an iPhone just because it lacks them either. There's always something newer and shinier around the corner.
It all started last year when many in the tech community thought that having a 5G smartphone in 2019 was a necessity. Well, the iPhone 11 launched without 5g and still did very well. Based on how things have been trending, it’s conceivable to launch a flagship smartphone in 2020 without 5G and still be okay, sales-wise. Especially when we know that a 5g modem is going to significantly increase the cost of the final product, even if your area is not 5g ready yet (and may not be for another couple of years).
Let's put it this way - how many S20 units do you think Samsung has sold so far, given its high price tag, the lack of 5g adoption, and a global pandemic? This feels like a product marketed more towards carriers and less towards consumers.
Meanwhile, the Apple Watch continues to take off, and it actually appears to be getting less competition over time, but you will never hear the people here give it the recognition it deserves. In reality, I think that wearables will end up being the next runway success for Apple, even as the critics continue to be blindsided by smartphones, and what Apple is (and evidently isn't) doing in this field. Samsung choosing to double down on folding phones could also be interpreted as them knowing they have little hope of competing in the wearables field.
So to me, it feels premature to argue that the next iPhone is doomed just because it won't sport a certain feature or two, without seeing the entire package and value proposition. Contrary to how some may make it sound, I am not being locked inside a walled garden against my will, dying yet unable to leave. If I get a new iPhone later this year, it will be because the total value proposition is greater than a competing android smartphone with a periscope camera and 120hz refresh rate and whatever other feature it may have that the iPhone doesn't.
Rather than say that the iPhone is crippled, or that Apple is milking its users just because it lacks a periscope camera or 120hz refresh rate or some other buzzword of the month, why not instead take a step back and analyse just why Apple not only has close to a billion active iPhone users, but also enjoys high loyalty and satisfaction rates amongst them?
As such, I would argue that Apple is not defined by any one product, but rather, by the process that has led to Apple having a cohesive ecosystem of products and services. To put it another way, Apple uses its design-led culture to sell devices capable of fostering a superior experience that users are willing to pay a premium for. It sounds like a load of hot air, until you look at the consumer electronics industry in general and realise that this is a phenomenon that is growing increasingly rare by the moment.
I don't know if I am making sense or not, and I somehow ended up typing all this from what was originally meant to just be a few sentences. I concede that perhaps I may have been a little to quick to dismiss the periscope camera as a gimmick just because it's Samsung doing it, but part of my frustration goes back to my initial premise. Start with Apple, then work your way to the other competitors in the industry if you want to be able to analyse Apple properly. Not the other way round. Else, you will read Apple wrong every single time.
