The iPhone 11 & co.
This year's phone keynote has delivered, according to Apple, all-new products from the top down
Quite boring hardware unfortunately, as was expected.
- Better cameras, though for use cases I'm not sure are very useful
- Better battery life thanks to the A13 chip
- Marginally better screen on the Pro phone
- Always-on screen on the Watch, which is nice
- Simple update on the entry-level iPad
The landing page for each phone is 60% camera features and 40% other features. Not saying that is wrong, on the contrary, the marketing team is doing their job as in my experience most people use their phones as an Instagram device.
Where I think Apple nailed it is with the Watch. They are really, really good at the health and fitness message, and the product itself is fantastic.
However, I will criticise them for two things.
First, the fact that they are not even advertising the full price for the phone, but rather an installment plan first, then a discounted price with the trade of an old phone, and only when you say "no" to these options you get the actual price. Let me reiterate that. When you visit Apple.com the price you see for the phones is not the actual retail price.
They are aware that their hardware is not attractive at those price points, but at the same time they can't lower them because of positioning. Well; to be precise, the iPhone 11 is actually sliiightly cheaper than last year's but, in my opinion, not attractive enough to upgrade. And let's not even mention EU prices. On top of the 21% sales tax —nothing to do there— we are eating up a 1:1 USD:EUR ratio which is bullshit.
Second, Apple is advertising a "Pro" phone that can shoot incredible 4K movies, but stuffing it with only 64 GB of storage. The consumer experience is terrible when you are out of disk space.
My phone memory is full and every time I take a picture it is immediately uploaded to iCloud and deleted from the phone. If I want to show it to somebody later the same day, I have to wait for it to load from the network. My UX is that I have no pictures or videos stored locally, not even for pictures I took 15 minutes ago. That is definitely not a feature you want on a super advanced camera-phone.
The phone market is too mature
Regarding innovation, what can Apple really do? I honestly do not have an answer. The majority of the population is not renewing their phones on a yearly cycle, not even a two year cycle. I have an SE only because my 5S broke. I loved my 5S and there is no feature in current phones that would make me upgrade.
I commute every day and see what "normal people" (excuse me) do on their phones. It is 40% scrolling through Instagram, 30% Whatsapp, 20% watching shows, 5% taking pictures, 5% playing games.
If you want to read the best take on the keynote, read Ben Thompson's The iPhone and Apple’s Services Strategy.
The phone market and phone technology have crossed the chasm long ago and they're on diminishing returns. I stick by my reaction of last year's keynote:
- Apple should seriously consider 2-year iPhone cycles.
- People who want smaller phones, regardless of price, may move to Android, myself included, so an updated iPhone SE is strategic for Apple.
- Hardware improvements are going to be mostly incremental from now on. Therefore...
- Apple should focus on software, which they are doing very well, and keep coming up with really crazy innovative hardware, which they appeared to be doing but rumors say they scraped at the last minute like the U1 chip.
Apple is a company full of smart people that can reinvent boring products like beige PCs, Nokia phones, and even headphones and watches. I am hopeful for the next wave of hardware, whatever it is. AR glasses? Car stuff? TVs? We will see.
Personally, I am indifferent at this keynote. Since my main need is a laptop, I'm still waiting for the new wave of macbooks to renew my 2013 MBA. I simply refuse to buy any laptop from Apple's current lineup. The rumors are very promising, so let's check what they can come up with!
Tags: apple