Around September each year, customers of the well-known tech brand, Apple, await the drop of yet another iPhone. Apple makes yearly promises to customers that the newest iPhone will be technologically advanced and possess new features. Since the release of the original iPhone in 2007, camera lenses have been added, features have advanced, yet the overall “look” of the iPhone remains the same. The changes made are starting to feel like a futile attempt of maintaining the face of the company. Apple continues to gain more profit through making their phones seem “better” than previous models.
Annually, customers’ standards are lowered because of the continuous launches of new iPhone models. Customers began to notice that along with the overly ambitious software updates, Apple began to add showy and unnecessary physical updates such as increasing the amount of camera lenses on the phone to no avail. The iPhone 11 had three lenses, however Apple swiftly returned to only 2 cameras on their following models due to the lack of interest in the 3rd camera from customers.
Although the ambitious physical updates have slowed, the internal updates haven’t. The new iPhone 16 was dropped on Sept. 20, 2024, along with new features such as longer battery life, the Action button and all-new camera control. This advancement of internal features continues to be Apple’s main appeal to new customers due to the visual appeal of the phones running dry.
The iOS 18 brings an overhaul to many older features presented on an iPhone. It introduces things like RCS communication, which provides support for new messaging features between iOS and Android users and it presents the ability to lock or hide apps on your iPhone along with introducing new customization options for your home screen. All of these features are available on all iPhone models but features such as the Apple intelligence platform are only available on the more recent models like the iPhone 15 and 16, which shows how Apple is engineering their features to make it so your older iPhone model will soon be completely inferior to the new models.
Throughout the years, customers have started to theorize that Apple is able to continue making customers purchase their new products through slowing down their outdated devices. Customers report that around the time of a new iPhone drop their phone’s battery life drains quicker, their storage has a smaller capacity and the overall functionality of the phone is very low. In December of 2017, Apple was involved in a lawsuit that claimed they were deliberately trying to slow down older phones so consumers would purchase newer models, though they never admitted to this, it is clear to many consumers that that just may be the case. As a result of this lawsuit, Apple was instructed to pay affected consumers part of a 500 million dollar settlement. As customers catch onto Apple’s ploy for profit, they may consider not slowing down the products as they age because this may turn customers away from their products and opt for other brands such as Android.
Apple is the future of technology and creates their own competition each year but they may eliminate themselves by not constructing their products to benefit the customers.
