There is something about the launch of the iPhone 6 that makes it different from all the other iPhone launches that preceded it. Its key selling point — its bigger screen — seems to have been a direct response to competitor Samsung’s leadership in that area. I’m not a close follower of Apple’s movements, but one thing I do note about this great tech company is that it’s always either created new markets or led the charge in the advancement of product features.
This time Apple was clearly following Samsung’s lead — enlarging the screen of its flagship smartphone to get into the phablet scene and coming up with a smart watch to compete with those Samsung had in the market for months. That sort erodes a bit of the Apple mystique, doesn’t it? The brand that created the smartphone is now just following the lead of a former me-too company.
Will the new iPhone 6 fly? That remains to be seen. Personally, I think the iPhone 5S is a good enough phone and if I had one, I’d think twice about trading it in for a 6. I mean, how much of its already powerful 64-bit processor can the average human being actually tap? Plus I’m not really keen on having to lug around a manbag for the 6. Something to think about too: How much improvements in screen resolution can the human eye actually discern? And the iPhone 5C, if you take stock of how much more you’d be paying for by choosing the 5S over it, you’d actually give the 5C a second look to begin with.
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But, really, that is what Apple is good at — selling cool. The magic will likely continue to work on the must-have-this-new-cool-thing crowd.
[Image courtesy Tech Radar.]
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
I laughed a bit upon reading about the announcement, knowing that the Chinese have come up with clones of the phone ahead of it. They’re based on leaked parts, so yeah it’s a case of industrial espionage, but internally it’s nothing but an off-the-shelf Mediatek device running Android 4.2 or 4.4 depending on the version.
I heard that Apple pay is integrated. It partnered with credit card companies and retailers so you could use your phone to pay them instead of bringing your credit cards. It was mentioned that it was safe because it will not share credit card infos and addresses to the merchant when you use it to pay. It also has 2 million megapixels. So, it’s not just the screen.
Yeah! Just like it protected the celebrity nude pics on the icloud.
The Fappening anyone?
It will still sell. But if I’m an apple stock holder I’d be worried, they can’t continue doing this forever. specs is not even at par with current Samsung ang LG phones.
It is just one tactic to market a new product. You add new features, and advertise them as improvements…then, increase the cost for the first year. This iPhone will become obsolete in a few years…and, it will cost much less than what is cost now.
People usually bite on this marketing technique…Apple and Microsoft sell their products this way; and Bill Gates became one of the richest man on this planet.
i think i read once that tim cook and jobs(?) was fed up of apple phones’ features being copied endlessly by other companies (esp. samsung) for all the stuff it introduced (or made popular). 2012.
i think this is an attempt at trying to get back at samsung by copying them instead.
at least that what i would do if i were apple and pissed off at samsung. 🙂 but that’s me painting my autobiography on this story. but i am a strategist and manager by profession after all. i find this cheeky and amusing and it makes me think apple has a personality: a personality i agree with.
me? still love apple. especially now if my theory holds true.
jobs: “I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this. […] I don’t want your money. If you offer me $5 billion, I won’t want it. I’ve got plenty of money. I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that’s all I want.”