Apple are aware of what people are saying. I've been saying it myself for a couple of years- that their new products are virtually the same as the old ones. New generations come and the differences are subtle, not drastic. I remember the launch of Siri and touch ID. Both of which, in the fulness of time, have proved more gimmick than vital resource. And now, 3D buttons, an even better camera (apple marketing campaigns seem to slam their previous phone-cams to the point you can hardly believe anyone used them), Apple Pay and a new colour 'Rose Gold,' are this generations wow factors. I'm feeling quite un-wow right now.
'The only thing that's changed is everything,' reads apple's product slogan. And it's smart; the sort of thing someone with creative flair and a massive mandate from Apple came up with to no doubt raucous applause from the companies big wigs at Apple HQ. They probably think thats them, fronting up to a much circulated theory, and quashing it with clean-cut brevity; a reflection of their smoothly innocent products, often contrasted against an angelic white background during commercials.
I used to be hooked on the iPhone. Quite literally- it would have caused me an inordinate amount of fuss transferring onto another device. That device would have been android, which people only seem to like because it's not apple. It's a rebells choice, nothing more. But with Spotify, my reliance on iTunes has waned, and that's a big thing for me. I keep no music on my phone, only photos, videos and apps, all of which can be transferred. And so, as I approach my upgrade season, always a great moment in a two-year cyclical process, for the first time in years I have a free-choice.
I will probably still go with the latest iPhone, despite the underwhelming differences of this generation to the last, or the one before that (which I currently own). Indeed, I write this article from my macbook pro, and I'll probably check the likes, shares and comments from my ipad later, before bed. And so I'm as big a culprit to consumerism there is. I'm an Apple user, feeling slight disappointment, but I know there's more to come...
The greatest excitement this company generates in me, are the articles I read of their patent applications. Batteries that last weeks on end, curving screens, hologram keyboards and levitating speakers that follow the phone around. I made the last one up, but who knows what the future will hold? While these technological advancements pass through the rigmarole of the intellectual property red tape, while simultaneously be experimented with in some underground apple bunker with a brainiac like James Bond's Q, we will have to be patient and trust that our lives are going to be shaken up and changed forever. Besides, the figures speak for themselves. Apple sold over 13 million new iPhones last weekend. Clearly I'm not the only believer, there are others who keep the faith.