“The smoke has cleared and the dust has settled following a series of reports on Tuesday covering Apple’s upcoming new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Pro, or whatever they end up being called,” Zach Epstein writes for BGR. “The reports, which were almost certainly planted by Apple’s PR team, made it clear that the new iPhones launching this year will not be major updates. Instead, they’ll be minor updates just as we’ve seen in leaks. It looks like the photo that seemingly gave us our first look at a real iPhone 7 was indeed likely genuine.”
“Here’s the thing: Strategically, now is the perfect time to make this huge change and wait another year before launching a redesigned iPhone,” Epstein writes. “First of all, next year marks the tenth anniversary of the original iPhone. There’s no question Apple was going to save its big new launch for 2017, and according to rumors it’s indeed going to be big.”
“But there’s another important consideration here,” Epstein writes. “2016’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Pro launch will mark two years since the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were released… So beginning in September and carrying through the following quarters, tens of millions of people will be due for an upgrade.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Or maybe Apple’s just setting the bar nice and low after being burned by tough compares all year (admittedly the company’s own fault for being years late with properly-szoed iPhones, but still). Under-promise and over-deliver.
SEE ALSO:
Apple iPhone 7 to offer ‘only subtle changes’ beyond dumping 3.5mm headphone jack for Lightning connector – June 21, 2016
Are leaks suggesting iPhone 7 will be ‘boring’ Apple’s attempts at misdirection? – June 17, 2016
Yawner? Apple’s 2016 iPhone 7zzz – May 26, 2016
Survey: Consumers are more excited about Apple’s ‘iPhone 7’ than they were for iPhone 6s – May 4, 2016
Why Apple’s iPhone 7 doesn’t have to be a ‘disappointment’ – May 3, 2016
Analyst: iPhone 7 set to be a disappointment, as Apple holds back for iPhone 8 – April 26, 2016
Why the 2017 iPhone will be made of Liquidmetal – April 18, 2016
Professor behind Liquidmorphium Turing Phone invests in Liquidmetal, named to Board, enters into cross-licensing agreement – March 14, 2016
The Turing Phone is not made out of Liquidmetal – July 15, 2015
Why does Apple keep extending their partnership with Liquidmetal? – June 25, 2015
Apple extends Liquidmetal exclusivity deal through February 2016 – June 23, 2015
Two new Liquidmetal patent filings from Apple revealed; list watch and jewelry among potential uses – April 23, 2015
Liquidmetal’s Apple alliance yet to bear fruit – September 30, 2014
Apple’s new Liquidmetal-related patent sparks speculation – July 7, 2014
Apple patents method for embedding sapphire displays in LiquidMetal device chassis – May 27, 2014
Liquidmetal-Visser agreement paves the way for more rapid adoption of amorphous metal manufacturing – May 21, 2014
Apple extends Liquidmetal exclusivity deal through February 2015 – May 21, 2014
“So beginning in September and carrying through the following quarters, tens of millions of people will be due for an upgrade.”
231,218,000 to be exact. Not counting Android, Windows phone switchers and all those iPhone 5/5C/5S holdouts upgrading to the iPhone SE.
Most of the people I know aren’t tech-heads. They’re not always sitting around anxiously waiting for something radically new. They buy a product and use it as best as they can and are happy when they get familiar with using most of the features they use. This stupidity of thinking everyone is getting bored with their smartphones after the first few months and then desiring a new model is quite ridiculous.
I also don’t know why Apple is expected to keep ahead of every Android smartphone manufacturer every year. I think it would be impossible to do that. Apple should try to maximize the R&D for every iPhone they build and if it takes a couple of years to recoup that expenditure, then that’s how it should be. I’ll bet a lot of these Android manufacturers never recoup what they spend or maybe just barely break even. I simply don’t believe most smartphone users are dying to replace their smartphones every year. The people I know certainly don’t feel that way. Why analysts think this constant repetitive buying is a good thing for consumers, I’m not sure.
The short answer is that increases in iPhone sales historically have been driven by new hardware, not by software updates.
Long answer: When a company charges the highest price and uses its marketing to position itself as the premium product, but then leaves the product hardware unchanged for extended periods of time while the competitors offer superior performance in one way or another, then the reputation of the self-proclaimed premium company is tarnished and either sales fall off (iPhone) or the company has to readjust the price to move inventory (Apple Watch).
The interesting thing is how Apple used to claim to do things that no other company could do. They don’t say that anymore, because much of the hardware that Apple has in the showroom is no longer class-leading, and much of the software is ugly unintuitive and buggy.
Do most people care? Of course not. Most people buy what is advertised to them, what their friend has, or whatever is on promotion. Few people do serious value analysis of the products they buy.
But to the techie and investor, of course quality matters. If Apple can’t be bothered to offer the best camera in a smartphone, or 4K resolution on a TV set-top box, or Skylake processors across the entire Mac range, … well, why pay the premium Apple price? At some point the public gets tired of paying more.
Apple’s Answer: Loot at the ecosystem. Every Apple fan believes to his very core that the iOS store is untouchable. Except the reality is that it isn’t the only game in town. Practically every iOS developer has an Android version of their apps now. Macs even moreso have lost their edge – the Mac App store is an embarrassment. Did Apple forget about it? Is there a reason Apple has never promoted it or given developers any real incentive to distribute through it?
So then the Apple fan says that Apple device interconnectivity is better because of exciting iCloud functions like Handoff and stuff. If you just buy one of every size Apple product, they will all work together seamlessly and perfectly. Except they don’t, and Apple’s iCloud is a complete non-starter for companies and pros. And even if Apple’s software was perfect, it’s still a pain because Apple has zero control over wireless networks, cell and GPS connectivity, and the flakiness and performance limitations of Bluetooth. But Apple is staking its future on selling everyone a wireless mobile world even when many people find the performance unacceptable and/or the value inferior to legacy technologies.
So there you go. Cook wants Apple to be exclusively a consumer-centric subscription-driven company that makes premium margins by virtue of thin white & grey wireless Ive fashion, not by being demonstratively, functionally better or consistently technologically superior to the competition. Some of us weep when we see what is happening to Apple. Fashion over substance will not earn a premium price from my wallet.
News flash to Cook: the world has more small companies, workers, coders, personal computer users, and productive computer users than it has fashionistas and hipsters who buy multiple overpriced luxury watch bands in order to sustain Apple’s bottom line. Perhaps if you recognized this, and delivered more regular all-new Mac hardware, then Mac sales wouldn’t be flat, and iOS would not have declining market share and selling price. Same for all the other dusty hardware: iPods, displays, Airport, etc.
If Apple does not keep it fresh, then customers like me will go to companies that will.
I think way to many people are allowing their own prejudices impact their opinions on how many will upgrade.
The iPhone 7 (4.7″) 64GB (assuming 16 GB will be offered as th entry model) will sell for $749. But the true cost to someone upgrading from the iPhone 6 64GB will actually be much lower than that because of the resale value of the iPhone 6.
The average asking price on Craigslist in my area is $391. Assuming that price drops to $350 after iPhone 7 launch, the net cost to upgrade will only be $399. If Apple discontinues the 16GB model in favor of 64 GB the net cost will only be $299.
$399 is nothing to upgrade a 2 year old iPhone to the latest greatest. 24 month financing is about $36/month through Apple.
Don’t let the nabobs of negativity fool you, most people want the latest greatest. If they didn’t we’d still be driving Model T Fords, watching B&W CRT TVs, or using rotary dial telephones plugged into a wall.
The performance jump from my iPhone 5 to an iPhone SE was incredible. Two years represents a tremendous performance improvement in hardware and software, not to mention new battery performance.
He’s trying everything he can to ruin iPhone sales.
Removing the 3.5mm jack in order to jack us for more profit will come back to bite him. Just read the boards, everyone is clearly aware of his expensive adapter traps.
Cook is finished. They just need to find a replacement. Even if he’s half as lazy and incompetent it will be a dramatic and overdue improvement.
Who writes this drivel for you? Can you read it back to yourself and actually take it seriously? Isn’t this merely someone’s lame idea of a FUD campaign? Are paid to post this anonymous coward garbage?
And this is me, who is outraged at Cook for attending a Republican fundraiser with Psycho Paul Ryan. It’s the biggest blunder in Tim Cook’s career, contrary to both Apple’s and Cook’s own ethics.
I’d be fine with most of the changes I’ve heard about, though I’d prefer the new iphone to have the shape of the SE with straight edges. I see Huawei phones that look better on the outside in this regard, but we may have to wait until next year. I don’t like the possibility of losing the headphone jack. I’m planning on buying a Rode smartphone mic and this will limit the time it’ll be useful for me. Lightning connections aren’t as tight and solid as 3.5mm
(0_o) It looks like the photo that seemingly gave us our first look at a real iPhone 7 was indeed likely genuine.
There were TWO, conflicting, photos released at approximately the-same-time. So I have no idea what he’s talking about.
This confusion continues to sound deliberate on Apple’s part. We’ll see what we get when we get it.
A couple more thoughts:
A) Apple rarely pays heed to anniversaries. They come and go and Apple doesn’t much care. The only exception I can think of was the Twentieth Anniversary Mac in 1998, which was something of a flop.
B) I’d rather have a fatter iPhone with more battery life than yet another attempt to make the iPhone as thin as a piece of paper and just as bendable. Hello!
No OLED : Pass on this version.