September 20th saw the release of the brand-spanking new iPhone 16 across stores planet-wide. The iPhone 16 lineup featured four models—continuing the pattern from last year of a regular iPhone 16, a plus model, a pro model, and the flagship pro max. With Apple’s widespread popularity as the de facto king of the smartphone market, reviewers, geeks, and fans all rushed to buy the new iteration. Many were disappointed by the iPhone 16’s physical appearance and the lack of changes over the years.
Yes, these phones are three generations apart.
While Apple has continued to change the internals of many parts of the iPhone, the physical differences have remained a relatively slow trickle. The biggest jump in the iPhone’s appearance came with the iPhone X (10), with Apple adopting the glass back and notched display, ditching the notch last year across all models and slimming the bezels. This year sees Apple add a whole new button to the side of the phone called the ‘Camera Control’, which as you may have guessed, is a button to open and control the various settings in the camera app.
Interestingly enough, throughout the entire keynote event and across various interviews, Apple executives refused to refer to the ‘Camera Control’ as a button, which, after testing at a nearby Apple showroom, I can confirm it most definitely is. This new button is the only major difference in the appearance of the iPhone, and it also makes it two buttons added to the iPhone in 2 years, which is a pretty ironic occurrence given Apple’s track record of removing buttons and other paraphernalia (cough home button cough aux port cough).
So why is there a sudden lack of changes to the iPhone? While there is no denying that the internal changes made to the iPhone require high engineering precision, it just sort of feels like the creative team at Cupertino has hit a grindingly slow halt, or at least is starting to. But I don't believe that this is just an Apple thing.
While the launch of an iPhone every year sees the tech giant face backlash and criticism every year, it is all part of the package that comes with being the biggest rat in the race. The lack of innovation, it can be argued, is spread all across the smartphone market, and Apple as a company is above changing a proven successful design just for the sake of change. While some decisions on the iPhone still can't be defended (looking at you, 60hertz displays on an $800 phone), we as a society have peaked on smartphone designs. Until the next big thing comes around, that is.
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But what will that next thing be? Honestly, it's hard to tell. While the hype is big on wearables (Apple Vision Pro) or foldables (Samsung Fold), the tech just isn't there yet. The wizards over at Cupertino and Korea have kept the smartphone industry afloat for over a decade now, with innovation after innovation. It is fair to argue that they have bought themselves time to brew below the surface with each passive launch, waiting to jump at the next big thing.
Furthermore, with incrementally consistent changes every year, no customer apart from the die-hard loyalists feels the need to upgrade year after year. Gone are the days of queues lasting days or spots selling for thousands of dollars; this new era of upgrades ensures that those who want to keep their devices for many years are able to do so without having the fear of missing out on any big new features that define every new device because honestly, there aren’t any.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. If you have burning thoughts or opinions to express, please feel free to reach out to us at larra@globalindiannetwork.com.
