My (Low) Expectations for Apple's Next (Boring) iPhone Event

As the season turns, so does Apple's product release cycle. September is traditionally the month when Apple unveils a series of updates, with the iPhone typically taking center stage. But will the spotlight remain on the iPhone this year? Let’s delve into my expectations and see if they align with the usual fanfare.

The iPhone — the king of all

The iPhone is seventeen years old; it is getting old and mature. Low-hanging fruits are a rarity these days in the smartphone space. Beyond being thinner, faster, with longer battery life, and a slightly bigger screen, what else should I expect? A foldable iPhone is not one of my expectations, not this year, not in ten years. I hope Apple won’t waste too much of their resources trying.

MacRumors’ summary of what to expect is informative but cannot be more exciting than the actual rumours. Each year, Apple shuffles things around by adding features previously only available on Pro-line to non-Pro devices. The action button is coming for non-pro devices this year. The telephoto lens on the 15 Pro Max will reach the non-Max iPhone. It's so predictable. Rare exception: the capture button is coming to all models this year. Are you excited? Could a new camera lens assembly design come this year? Lens alignment will go vertical for the non-Pro devices, just like the iPhone X. The "bump” design fundamentally stays the same. Boring.

A faster iPhone, a bigger screen (in a slightly bigger device), faster charging, improvements to the camera, and faster at everything. What else? It is hard to get excited, even for an iPhone photographer like me.

While waiting for the iPhone 16, this article from MacRumors offers a helpful comparison between the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. While glancing at the article, I must say that a glossy titanium frame (instead of the brushed one of the iPhone 15 Pro line) would be a regression; I love the 15 Pro brushed finish! We will see soon enough.

My boredom might be partly due to not upgrading my iPhone 15 Pro Max this year. I have other plans. Continue reading.

The Apple Watch — the eternal iPhone companion

It’s been ten years since the launch of the Apple Watch. The iPhone’s companion, the Apple Watch, is again set to receive an update. Are we going to see an Apple Series X sporting an entirely new design, like the iPhone X was? How would we call the Series X? Series “Ten”? Series “X”? Remember when people were confused with the iPhone X naming? Anyway…

Last year, when the Ultra 2 came out, I contemplated switching to the Ultra, but I never liked its design. I don’t expect this to change this year. Enters the Apple Watch Series 10, with a rumored bigger screen while sporting a thinner design. How much thinner remains to be seen, but I’m really looking to upgrade to the Series 10. This is where my (relatively mild) excitement resides this year.

But beyond a bigger screen, what else? I would take better battery life over anything else. My Apple Watch Series 8 barely reaches 5 PM under watchOS 18 beta 8 without a recharge. I don’t expect things to improve much with the official release. There won’t be a new sensor, either. What else? I would love to see different metal finishes and tints.

I almost forgot: with each new watch model comes one or more new watch faces. Until Apple enables selling third-party watch faces on its App Store, the only way to get excited is to wait for Apple each year. The watchOS 11 release doesn't bring new watch faces, but a few were redesigned or tweaked, such as the Photos watch face, which now depends on machine learning. But, again, what else?

The (usual) software story

Apple always times its biggest OS releases with the new iPhone launch in September. This year, iOS 18 is bringing small and significant improvements across the board. The only thing is that Apple Intelligence obliterates everything because of the current hype surrounding AI in general. Apple is no different here, but their approach to AI integration is different. But what comes next will probably make us forget about the iPhone 16 fit and finish.

Apple Intelligence Inside™

Expect a lot of references to Apple intelligence during the keynote, just like Apple did with 5G a few years ago. Apple Intelligence is Apple's next sales driver. The problem is that the Apple Intelligence rollout is slow and will come after the iPhone 16 becomes available. The former is expected to start rolling out later this year. Moreover, the best of Apple Intelligence will come after iOS 18.1 and maybe iOS 18.2. This brings us into early 2025, at the earliest. In other words, for Apple, the most challenging part is yet to be overcome.

It will be bizarre to announce the new iPhone marked as “ready for Apple Intelligence” while the actual rolling out of Apple Intelligence is much later. Even worse, for those like me living outside of the US, in Canada, for example, and wishing to use their iPhone in French, we shouldn’t expect Apple Intelligence to be available sometime next year. This alone is enough for me to patiently wait for the iPhone 17, which should be even more powerful and capable of performing on-device Apple Intelligence tasks. Again, it’s bizarre timing. I’m not the only one who thinks it’s odd (search the referenced article with the keyword “aiPhone”.)

What about the Mac?

I don’t expect the new rumoured M4 Mac mini to launch in September; it would create too much noise for the same event. Apple likes to focus on a few things. Yet, I can’t wait to put my hands on a M4 Mac mini (I’m still using the M1 Mac mini, bought in late 2020).

All in all, my expectations are relatively low this year. Apple is still sailing with a tailwind, but the winds are slowly turning; until now, they haven’t had to try too hard to keep selling a boatload of iPhones. And this is where the problem lies if you ask me. Apple is no longer the underdog; they don’t feel enough pressure to think outside the box like the Nothing company with its Nothing Phone. While Nothing won't dent Apple's sales, pressure will come from regulations and a decline in developers’ sentiment for creating great apps. Exhibit A: the Apple Vision Pro is the biggest flop since the Apple ///. But that is another story.