Keeping With The Times: Apple Evaluates Update Schedule
At nearly ten years since the introduction of the very first iPhone in 2007, most Apple users have become accustomed to the constant stream of updates that the company rolls out, but times could be changing.
Whether it’s hardware, software or both, it seems as though it’s impossible to keep on top of your iPhone technology, because as soon as you’re up to date, another update comes up. This can be frustrating and costly to users who want to keep up on the latest technology, but don’t want to have to buy a new phone every year or two.
Give Us A Break
Major news last week announced rumors that Apple would be shifting from a two-year cycle of major hardware updates to iPhones to a three-year cycle. The source of the news was Nikkei’s Asian Review, who wrote that “The move is largely due to smartphone functions having little room left for major enhancements. A slowing market is another factor.”
iPhone 7: What To Expect
While the announcement has not been confirmed by Apple—who is infamously tight-lipped about its upcoming changes, which is an effective tool in creating hype—there are several indications pointing to its veracity. By most accounts the upcoming autumn update to the iPhone, which will be the iPhone 7, doesn’t include any major changes. Mashable is reporting that the changes seem minimal, writing “Yes, the headphone jack is probably dead (RIP), and yes, the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus/Pro will almost certainly have dual-cameras. But every purported leak we’ve seen about the phone chassis itself suggests very minimal changes.”
Quartz furthered this theory, writing that, “the iPhone 7 will have the same basic body shape as the two previous iPhones. The only aesthetic differences, according to MacRumors, is that the rear-facing camera on the 7 won’t stick out from the phone as it does on the 6 and 6S, and the two lines across the back of the phone, which act as radio antennae, will be gone.”
The Status-Quo
While it’s still unclear if 2017 will see the next major change to Apple hardware and design, it’s worth making the argument for why the company would be well-served by doing so. A major factor could be cost. Changing the major materials—such as glass and aluminum—used to make the phone every two years is cost-intensive for the company and has a major effect on their supply chain. Doing so every three years instead would allow them to make phones with the same primary components for longer.
Another big consumer-based factor is market saturation. There are far more smartphones on the market now than there were ten years ago when the iPhone first came out. Consumers are tired of having to constantly update their phones, which they now see as more of a necessity rather than a luxury item or fun thing to buy. Giving consumers another year to tire of their old model before rolling out a new one might be a better way to get large scale migration to the new models once they are released.
Still, it’s important to note that, as is the case with all things Apple, a lot of this is based on speculation. As the 2017 update will mark the tenth anniversary of the iPhone itself, some have theorized that the company is holding out for a significant redesign that year, which is why the 2016 update is set to be minimal. All that is known for certain is that a new phone is due out in three months, with another one in 15 months. In true Apple fashion, we’ll just have to wait and see.