When I think about Apple’s iPhone I have mixed emotions about it. I love iOS. Since I first started using it in 2011, it has always felt like a solid platform that I could depend on. There’s not a whole lot you can do with it, which can be both a blessing and a curse. Its design is simple and I find that it works well both for phones and tablets. I feel like iOS is dependable because Apple is consistent.
But with that consistency also comes a feeling of being… bored? I think that’s the word I’m looking for. I like iOS and I like my iPhone, but I feel like I’ve grown kind of bored with it. There’s nothing terribly exciting about it anymore. And when I think about what phones I’m excited for in 2016, the iPhone 7 barely makes it onto that list.
You see, for the past few years I feel like the iPhone has lost its luster. I had super high expectations for the iPhone 5, only to find that it was just a little bit taller and that was about it. The iPhone 5s brought the TouchID fingerprint sensor, and was also the first device to ship with Apple’s “radically” redesigned iOS 7. The iPhone 6 brought the bigger screen that many had hoped for in the iPhone, and Apple even brought in a larger iPhone with a 5.5-inch display. The 6s brought a better rear-facing camera, and improvements to the front-facing camera with the introduction of retina display. The 6s and 6s Plus also brought 3D Touch, which is interesting at the very least.
But aside from that, I feel like last year’s iPhone still left much to be desired. I’ve felt that way for the past 3 years when it comes to the iPhone, and I highly suspect I’ll be left feeling the same way again this year.
I try to take rumors with a grain of salt, but it’s hard not to at least take them into consideration if you hear about a rumor enough times. I’m worried that the removal of the headphone jack will be a real thing. Although removing something so pivotal to most people’s everyday lives is a typical move from Apple when you look into their history, I’m not sure how well this one would fly. I’m the type of person that has 7 pairs of headphones scattered in my house and in my car, always picking a pair up for one reason or another. I think I’d be pretty bummed if I were to pick up a pair of headphones to listen to music just to find that I forgot the adapter I needed to use the headset. It just sounds inconvenient.
I’ve lost confidence that Apple will implement 32GB of base storage this year. I expected it with the iPhone 6, and was surprised when Apple revealed it was still 16GB; I was positively floored when the iPhone 6s came out with the same 16GB that Apple has been offering since 2011. Not this year. This year I’m prepared for that 16GB of internal storage, and you can’t be disappointed if your expectations are already low.
I think I’m going to go ahead and assume that Apple will forego wireless charging again this year as well. I could easily see Apple going above and beyond what wireless charging already offers by creating a wireless charging system that works over distance, as recent rumors suggests. If that’s true, I imagine they wouldn’t want to focus too much on traditional wireless charging (which requires a charging pad) in the iPhone 7.
There’s also the speculation regarding battery life. While the release of Apple’s Smart Battery Case for the iPhone 6 and 6s made it clear that Apple is aware battery life could be better, that doesn’t necessarily mean battery life will be fixed in the next iPhone. I would love to see the next iPhone with better battery life, but if we’re going off of history here then I can’t realistically expect a better battery life either.
So, I’ve grown to have low expectations out of Apple when it comes to the “wow” factor. I still think Apple has made some amazing strides over the years and, like I said, I think their product is dependable and I like that. But I also miss feeling like Apple is both dependable and innovative. Lately it just feels like a game of catch up for them. As much as I’d love to see everything I could hope for in an iPhone, I think I’ll be better off being a pessimistic curmudgeon about it this year.
Readers, what are your expectations of the iPhone 7? Do you think it will be an innovative piece of technology, or do you have lowered expectations? Let us know in the comments below!