Also, isn’t it interesting how quiet and “normal” everything is, less than 24 hours later? Just kinda shows that, big picture, this stuff is commonplace/expected and no longer the big news/cultural rallying point it once was.
In many ways the iPhone “peaked” (not meant in a negative way at all) some years ago. An overall look/design had been settled on (only deviating a year ago with the the teturn(!) to the more squared-off iPhone 4/5 styling).
Recent releases have focused on the camera updates and things centered around it, but let’s be honest…the iPhone is plenty fast/powerful, any model, and it already does/replaces 55 other items or devices in one’s life. All the “low hanging fruit”, as they say, was snatched years ago. The NFC stuff, the GPS/location-awareness, the privacy and security aspects, the App Store, the display and battery improvements, etc.
COVID aside, do folks still even camp out or stand in line for these things anymore? If so, it doesn’t get covered as it once did, which only proves my original point. The “big event” aspect has slowly gone away, and now we all know we’re going to get solid yearly updates with a handful of new features/capabilities, but much (most?) of the true change and “oh wow!” is to be found under-the-hood, in the OS driving the thing.
That, to me, is where all the fun, cool stuff is happening.
Let’s face it: Apple could “freeze” the iPhone for 2-3 years, offering only the new iPhone 13 lineup until fall of 2023 or so and it’s still more phone than anyone could handle, or ever truly need.
I sometimes wonder if they’ll remove themselves from that “every year” hamster wheel and take a “when we have 3-5 truly compelling, game-changing features, then we’ll release a new iPhone. And it may take longer than a year. It might be every two, or more.”
But with the competition and all, they wouldn’t dare. Gotta chase those yearly spec bumps and “on paper” improvements lest Samsung and others create snarky ad campaigns centered around Apple’s “complacency” or lack of yearly spec-chasing.
Anyone buying an iPhone 13 (any version) knows, deep down, they’ve got more phone/tech in their pocket than they could ever truly fully use/tap into in two lifetimes.
Anyway, it just hit me, prowling around online this morning, just how you’d never know a new iPhone was just announced. Years ago, the story would still be “above the fold” at CNN and others. Made me realize just how much has changed the past 10 or so years. Not good/bad, just different.
The iPhone is now a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry. Solid, respectable and popular everyday/everybody-has-one devices that very few are losing their shit over on a yearly basis anymore.
It’s been fun/interesting to watch that evolution/transition over the years.