Apple released the new iPhone 7 with many new, but basic features: dual cameras, improved processor speeds, water resistance, and a new Home button.
One of the new features is the removal of the headphone jack – heralding the end of decades of universal compatibility.
But the truth is that pulling the plug is an incredibly well-designed distraction from what's really going on: Apple simply couldn't get a major new iPhone update out on time.
Did you really think that way? Is there any real reason for unplugging at this particular moment, other than distraction?
While everyone is shouting about how stupid it was to remove the plug, Apple released another iPhone.
The same move is also smart, because it signals the next big innovation, while at the same time postponing it… Remove the headphone jack to avoid criticism of rehashing the same features, and the real innovation will come in 2017, as Apple itself has already announced.
Thus, the company, faithfully following Moore's Law, is giving it its all this year and is preparing for the next major release that it has already planned and announced for 2017.
Every other smartphone manufacturer follows the same law. So almost all smartphones look and function the same way in 2016, have similar specifications and are similar thicknesses.
The iPhone 7 is a compromise, along with an admission that smartphone technology needs significant additions. But it came as a way for the company to appease its customers by delivering something that seems innovative, maintaining the product launch cycle and essentially buying time for the next big thing.
Unless you really think water resistance or a new color is worth spending hundreds of euros on.
Personally, I like the iPhone 7, but I won't get it. I still have the iPhone 6 and maybe if I see something worthwhile someday I'll be tempted. But not now..
Apple seems to know this, as 2016 will coincidentally be the first year the company won't share pre-order numbers with the press. Coincidence? Or does the company know that the iPhone 7 launch was a rudimentary step, not a groundbreaking leap?
Still, the iPhone 7 is the pinnacle of perfection. It's a beautiful phone, refined with a maturity that comes from three years of work.
You probably won't find a more perfect iPhone than the iPhone 7, but in reality if you have an iPhone 6 or 6s you don't need to upgrade.
The fact is truly scary for the entire smartphone industry.
