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Apple's Three-Year Plan to 'Reinvent' the iPhone is Underway
- Thread starter MacRumors
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If Apple thinks this is “reinventing” the iPhone then I have a very different meaning of that word.
The 17’s were more of the same (the 12 through 17 phones have been pretty much the same tired old design), but the Air was all new. The folding phone is meh, the Android makers have been doing them for years, Apple continues to play catch up. That’s a phone probably very few people will buy anyways.
They still have a chance to do something with the anniversary edition phone. I hope it’s not simply more of the same with a tiny change.
The 17’s were more of the same (the 12 through 17 phones have been pretty much the same tired old design), but the Air was all new. The folding phone is meh, the Android makers have been doing them for years, Apple continues to play catch up. That’s a phone probably very few people will buy anyways.
They still have a chance to do something with the anniversary edition phone. I hope it’s not simply more of the same with a tiny change.
rchaser
macrumors regular
"...technology that "reduces the crease without eliminating it entirely."
That technology is called: "we can't get rid of the crease. Samsung has been selling the crease for 8 years; their disciples still buy it. Our disciples will buy it."
That technology is called: "we can't get rid of the crease. Samsung has been selling the crease for 8 years; their disciples still buy it. Our disciples will buy it."
rchaser
macrumors regular
Are you new here? Have you read comments here? Every iPhone Air lover here is like "I love it, except for...", or "...but wish it had", or, "but they need to add...".
That's some great phone (if they would just add)!
JM
macrumors 601
We’re introducing three new products this year:
An iPhone Air
An iPhone Pro
and An iPad
An iPhone Air
A iPhone Pro
And An iPad.
An Air
A Pro
An iPad.
Are you getting it yet?
An iPhone Air
An iPhone Pro
and An iPad
An iPhone Air
A iPhone Pro
And An iPad.
An Air
A Pro
An iPad.
Are you getting it yet?
There will always be an audience that likes small phones. I'm sure some hundreds of thousands to millions love their Minis.
However, the audience isn't large enough for Apple to keep it as a SKU. Not enough millions.
This isn't 2010 Apple anymore.
milkrocket
macrumors regular
Apple is now the 45 yr old who peaked in high school. Grow up
Stop trying to reinvent ****. Instead develop a proper range of products. Not just random one offs, like the Mini.
All those people that bought one now don't have an easy upgrade path. Its either deal with larger phone or make do with an older phone
Stop trying to reinvent ****. Instead develop a proper range of products. Not just random one offs, like the Mini.
All those people that bought one now don't have an easy upgrade path. Its either deal with larger phone or make do with an older phone
Dirk Pieters
macrumors 6502a
MrWayne
macrumors regular
DocMultimedia
macrumors 68030
TheMacDaddy1
macrumors 65816
Apple largely has a software problem. Their hardware good/great. There are no Windows laptops that can touch Macbooks in terms of fit/finish/power management/battery life.
IMHO there is absolutely no Apple software that I like using. Safari, iMessage, mail, notes, photos, pod casts etc are not horrible but not even close to being good. My Apple devices are launch pads for other companies software.
With iOS 26 and MacOS 26 their OS has reached a point where it is getting in my way of using the OS with very poor UI design choices. This is making me seriously question of me using Apple devices in the future.
IMHO there is absolutely no Apple software that I like using. Safari, iMessage, mail, notes, photos, pod casts etc are not horrible but not even close to being good. My Apple devices are launch pads for other companies software.
With iOS 26 and MacOS 26 their OS has reached a point where it is getting in my way of using the OS with very poor UI design choices. This is making me seriously question of me using Apple devices in the future.
MrWayne
macrumors regular
I disagree with you. I find Apple software and hardware to be 10 years ahead of anything out there.
Jemorama
macrumors newbie
I would surmise the iPhone will be the start of the yearly naming convention, just like iOS and MacOS. I could see iPhone 28, for the year 2028.
HouseLannister
macrumors 68040
I just got to the part in the Pogue book where Jobs slices the products down to just 4: pro desktop, consumer desktop, pro laptop, consumer laptop. His goal was now they could revise them all every 9 months instead of every 18 and they could put their "A" team on every project. That's just not possible today. 4+ phones a year, 3+ laptops a year, 2+ iPads a year. We can already see the desktop Mac suffering as the Mac Pro is discontinued and we are still waiting on updates to iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Studio. There are too many products and not enough talent. Now they are supposedly working on all kinds of products for the home like iPads on homepods and iPads with robot arms and security cameras and doorbells. The number of products has exploded and it just feels like throwing spaghetti at the wall. Cut something. Anything.
It's a mistake to conflate the MacBook Neo with the iPhone mini. The MacBook Neo is the same weight and almost the same size as the MacBook Air, that's part of why it's so compelling. As much as I loved the iPhone 12 mini, it came with many more obvious compromises than the Neo. The other thing Apple should have learned by now is that in its various attempts to provide products at $100 price intervals, it seems that for the iPhone buyers aren't all that sensitive to $100. Especially if their phones end up on some sort of payment plan.
KENESS
macrumors 6502
I don't because I don't like the bulk. I never have. When I switched from my 12 Pro Max to a 17 Pro Max it still looked nearly flawless. (Battery life was pretty bad though...)
And I'm not always worrying about it or anything, I'm just neither careless nor clumsy.
I do not trust modern Apple engineers to 'reinvent' anything whatsoever. I often wonder if the company is now populated with former Google employees. it makes me sad. This used to be such a vibrant company that set the stage, and now it's limping along after trends, some of which are quite old (Apple's version of Google Glass, foldable phones, etc., you get the idea).
Once again, in 2026, I am not particularly excited about much of what is in the pipeline, broadly. That said, Apple silicon is amazing, and it makes it a double shame they aren't doing anything whatsoever original with it. I might imagine the hardware teams are pulling out their hair looking at the software teams (Liquid Glass is still a piece of *bleep*. Installed it on my phone to test it, but it isn't going on my iPad or my Macs, not until the option is available to turn it off 100% completely, or if I no longer have a choice in buying new devices, and not having a choice is supremely un-Apple). Arbitrary nested menus on mobile devices, not just the interface, blah, blah, blah. And no, 'You'll get used to it.', is not at all sufficient. Conformity used to be the exact opposite of the ethos of this company.
I hate to say it: but today, I just throw the stickers that come alongside Apple products into the trash, and that did not used to be the case. Waiting for the Apple branded blender or refrigerator, because that is how remedial things have become. Truly sad.
Again, the hardware is world class; the ecosystem seems to be more and more designed by robots trying to make money. Just my opinions based on a great deal of experience. Haven't watched a keynote since 2013, because i simply don't care.
And yet: this is still somehow better than Microsoft or Google. It is madness.
Once again, in 2026, I am not particularly excited about much of what is in the pipeline, broadly. That said, Apple silicon is amazing, and it makes it a double shame they aren't doing anything whatsoever original with it. I might imagine the hardware teams are pulling out their hair looking at the software teams (Liquid Glass is still a piece of *bleep*. Installed it on my phone to test it, but it isn't going on my iPad or my Macs, not until the option is available to turn it off 100% completely, or if I no longer have a choice in buying new devices, and not having a choice is supremely un-Apple). Arbitrary nested menus on mobile devices, not just the interface, blah, blah, blah. And no, 'You'll get used to it.', is not at all sufficient. Conformity used to be the exact opposite of the ethos of this company.
I hate to say it: but today, I just throw the stickers that come alongside Apple products into the trash, and that did not used to be the case. Waiting for the Apple branded blender or refrigerator, because that is how remedial things have become. Truly sad.
Again, the hardware is world class; the ecosystem seems to be more and more designed by robots trying to make money. Just my opinions based on a great deal of experience. Haven't watched a keynote since 2013, because i simply don't care.
And yet: this is still somehow better than Microsoft or Google. It is madness.
Exactly what happens when you put a supply chain guy in charge of High Tech marketing.
Cook has no clue how stupid he is and looks.
BornAgainMac
macrumors 604
That original home phone design with the dial reminds me of a baby toy. I hated the interface when it was new.
Apple just killed the Mac Pro. They let the iMac Pro be a one-off. They killed the last iPod touch not quite four years ago. They axed both the iPhone mini and Plus lines. With all the numerous SKUs and configurations available it can be easy to lose the forest for the trees. There are only a handful of trendsetting products where Apple will focus much of their hardware R&D resources:
- Apple Silicon (including the new modem and networking chips)
- iPhone Pro/Max for leading edge iPhone tech
- iPad Pro for leading edge iPad tech
- Mac Studio and MacBook Pro for leading edge Mac tech
- iPhone Air & MacBook Neo for introducing in-house chip solutions and new manufacturing processes
- AirPods and Apple Watch
- home platform including HomePod and perhaps Vision Pro
All other related products benefit from the cascading tech that comes from the leading edge products, including binned chips. It's much like how halo cars work in the automotive industry. We're all waiting to see improvement on the software side, mostly the AI stuff since that's been vaporware for so long. Almost a decade ago Apple was in a 180-degree position where its hardware was completely stagnant thanks to Intel while software was running much more smoothly. It's cyclical.
They’ll post this same article every three weeks for the next three years
This logic doesn’t hold up. Imagine if Apple made an iPhone with identical spec at every 0.1” interval between 5” and 7.5” (for reference, iPhone mini was 5.4 and pro max is 6.9). All the same, just 25 very specific sizes to choose from. Some people would pick the smallest one, probably more would pick the biggest. But this is a category with a limit: most people are going to pick one somewhere in the middle. Personally, I’d like something a little smaller than the current 17 Pro but not as small as a mini.