Every year millions of Apple users around the world go into a frenzy when the next iPhone, Mac, iPad and now even the Apple Watch get released into the ever changing technology market. But is Apple’s strategy of incremental innovation worth the dent to our bank accounts or is it just a money making con to millions of their global customers?
When Apple announced the launch of the first iPhone in January 2007, the world was astounded: a computer that made phone calls and could be carried in a pocket! Following this, in June 2010 Apple released details of the iPhone 4, this new model would feature a new shape, new retina screen and improved camera ability with front facing features. In the early days these transformations were major technological advancements; the jump from the 4 to the 4s gave consumers iMessage, iCloud, Notification Centre and even Siri which are now fundamental features of the product that make Apple so unique and desirable. However, as the years have progressed and as the tech industry is innovating quicker than we can process, are the changes worth the added cost and are these features ones that the average customer even notices?
Apple’s latest iPhone’s, the 7 and 7 Plus feature only a few changes from the 6S. The pixel resolution of the 7 Plus matches that of the 6S Plus, along with its height, width and depth. Although a major change is the splash, water and dust resistance feature that the 7’s have unique to other phones, this does however come with the catch of having to buy wireless earphones unless you choose to use the headphone adapter. Arguably, one of the key features of the 7 Plus is its impressive camera ability that far surpasses that of its predecessors. It has wide-angle: ƒ/1.8 aperture and a telephoto: ƒ/2.8 aperture, along with 2x optical zoom and up to 10x digital zoom. To those not overly interested in photography this won’t mean much apart from knowing it’s better than the last. But an iPhone with newer, even slighter better features than what we already hold leaves us desperate to know what Apple will create next.
As an avid Apple user myself, I felt great disappointment recently when losing my 6 and having to downgrade three steps in the iPhone sphere and resort to using to my mother’s old 5c. In reality, it’s still a phone, it makes calls, it sends texts and would help me navigate home using maps if needed. But in a world where consumerism prevails, I feel I want more. Apple have cleverly turned us into technology hungry animals and are probably sat laughing at their desks in San Francisco as their incremental innovations make them billions for every new product launch…yet here we wait in angst for the next product, will it be an iPhone 8 or the iPhone 8S?
Who knows what Apple has lined up for us… we’ll all buy it anyway.
By Jess Jones
Photo from (Eurodiaconia.com)