Apple may be slowing down its iPhone innovation
Rumours of a revised three-year product cycle could mean delay for anticipated new model
Can Apple slow the pace of smartphone innovation?
That’s the question as the Apple rumour mill churns with speculation about the company moving to a three-year iPhone refresh cycle, as opposed to its current two-year product plan.
Apple fans are used to the company releasing a major update to its phone one year, denoted by the number after its name — like the iPhone 6 in 2014 — incrementally improving it the next year — the iPhone 6S in 2015.
As such, many analysts were expecting something big coming from this September’s model, likely the iPhone 7.
But many reports are now saying that the company will likely release another product with some improvements and upgrades — an incremental update but nothing particularly revolutionary.
Instead, the big refresh is likely being saved for 2017, which also happens to be the 10th anniversary of the iPhone.
An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on the speculation.
As for why Apple is choosing to slow down, there are a number of possible reasons.
The global smartphone market is saturated and growth has slowed. After eight years of incredible growth, this past quarter, Apple reported iPhone sales slowed, selling 51 million iPhones — down from 61 million units from the same time period a year earlier.
Also, the arms race over innovative features seems to be peaking, as the last thing that actually boosted sales was the move to larger-screened phones two years ago.
In the past, the analyst sites speculating about the company’s products have generally turned out to be accurate.
There are also plenty of rumours about what the next iPhone will look like, with speculation centring on a smoother body with a better-integrated camera that does not protrude out of the back as it does in the current models.
The body likely will also look slightly different, with talk of a change in the wireless antennas that line the body.
The company may also be getting rid of the 16 GB starting model, making the 32 GB the new entry-level storage, but also making a large-scale storage, 256 GB model available.
There has been a lot of talk about potentially getting rid of the traditional headphone jack and instead connecting earphones using a USB-C connector. The largest iPhone may have a dual lens camera.
Apple reportedly plans to stick with an LCD panel this year, while the 2017 model will move to an OLED screen.
All that said, whatever Apple releases, it will likely do well. The company’s most recent smartphone product, the iPhone SE, met with tepid reaction from analysts and reviewers.
But the product reportedly did very well in terms of sales, due to pent-up demand for those looking to upgrade and potentially tapping a market looking for a smaller phone at a lower price.
Apple’s Worldwide Developer conference is scheduled for June 13 and it is expected the company may address some of its upcoming plans for the iPhone there.
Apple’s phone product refresh pace is already slower than its main Android competitors, many of whom release a major flagship phone every year, but also have much more varied products lines.
Of course, that has never stopped the company from making incredible profit off its devices.