When you get far enough into the tech business, it becomes more difficult to see things through the eyes of a consumer. After six years of covering Apple events as a TechCrunch reporter, I’ve come to believe that, but memes from random Twitter accounts can sometimes help me locate the consumer truth I’m seeking for.
As the blunder suggests, Apple is speeding toward a future where it’s becoming more difficult to tell new from old. The iPhone no longer has its off-year “S” period, which has seen modifications and new size variations since the radical iPhone X makeover in 2017.
Apple is extending the time between major upgrades across its entire product range, as well as the time it takes to implement those improvements. This isn’t a new trend or even a new perspective; it’s been published before, but it’s especially intriguing as the company increases the amount of personnel dedicated to future projects like augmented reality, which will likely replace the iPhone in the near future.
It’s an evolution that’s bringing them closer to the design realm of action camera darling GoPro, which has battled to keep its core supporters upgrading their hardware on a regular basis. These are on ludicrously different scales, with Apple currently valued at $2.41 trillion and GoPro still battling for a market cap of $1.5 billion.
Apple first unveiled the current bezel-lite iPad Pro design in late 2018, and it’s taken three years for the design to make its way down to the iPad mini, while the entry-level iPad remains unreleased. As the business has already stated, the transition from M1 Macs will most likely take years. The majority of Apple’s significant updates rely on revisions to their chipsets, which is gradually making them appear and feel like a consumer chipset manufacturer.
GoPro unveiled its HERO10 Black camera this week, which features greater frame rates and a faster CPU in an effort to entice more of its user base to subscribe to its services. Does this ring a bell? Apple unveiled its latest flagship, the iPhone 13 Pro, this week, with a faster processor and improved frame rates (for the display not the camera here, though). They also spend a good deal of effort encouraging customers to join new service ecosystems.
Apple’s gadgets are improving to the point where they’re approaching a critical feature plateau. Despite this, the corporation has continued to churn out device after gadget, growing its audience to billions and significantly increasing their average income per user. The most valuable company on the planet is certainly doing well, but while the stock has nearly tripled since the iPhone X debut, the consumer iPhone experience has remained rather stable. That isn’t necessarily a negative thing, but it is — for lack of a better word — tedious.
