iPhone 15 Launch

Yesterday I started thinking about starting a blog. It’s stemming from the fact that I rarely find articles that are in-line with my point of view on certain ideas. Lately it’s been Apple’s announcements. When they announced the iPhone 15 last Tuesday, there were a bunch of headlines about how underwhelming the launch was, how Apple isn’t innovating anymore, or that “the age of the iPhone” is over now that Vision Pro” was announced. I kept scanning the headlines looking for something that conveyed a different perspective, but nothing came.

Jon Gruber had a much different perspective than the average headline, but still missed a larger point that I felt was important. And that is, Apple’s iPhone, as much as it’s their bread-and-butter as far as revenue, is only one part in a larger ecosystem of devices that users find compelling. It’s the fact that their products and services work great together that keep people coming back. Or at least that’s what keeps me coming back.

I have rarely, if ever, compared an iPhone to any other phone spec for spec. I’m not looking for the fastest processor, the most memory, the biggest and brightest screen, or even the best camera. I don’t need to because I’ve been using iPhones for over a decade now and I’m very happy with how they perform. I know each year most specs get a little bit better and the photos I can take today are far superior to the photos I captured 10 years ago. I don’t really expect my camera to be dramatically better every year. If I did, I would essentially have to admit that the photos I’m taking today are likely inferior and almost aren’t even worth taking. Most photography is about memories and emotion, much mores so than megapixels. After all, plenty of people still hand out polaroid cameras at weddings because there’s simply something nostalgic about those cute little photographs they produce.

Year after year, iPhones have gotten better and more integral to my life. Features like Apple Wallet, Apple Health, and HomeKit have slowly, but steadily become part of my daily routine. And I’m mostly content with how they work. Of course I think they all have room for improvement, but my experience with Apple’s products leaves me with little doubt that they will slowly, but surely continue to improve and refine these products as well. For instance, Driver’s licenses are available in Apple Wallet in some states, and I’m confident the feature will be available in California soon. That’s one less card I have to carry around, and more importantly, one less thing to lose since I won’t need to carry it with me most days.

More healthcare providers are starting to integrate with Apple Health, making it easier for me to have my medical records available when visiting different doctors or medical clinics.

Each year, when Apple announces its updates to the iPhone, I don’t wonder how it compares with the latest Android phone and whether this will be the year I try a different type of phone. If Apple made literally zero improvements to the iPhone 15 this year over the iPhone 14, I would likely still buy it because I’ve been using an iPhone 12 for almost 3 years now. The battery performance has degraded (which is simply a characteristic of modern Lithium-ion batteries) and it’s gotten a little beat-up and scratched over the years. I was interested in the new dynamic island, the always-on display, and the video stabilization improvements they made over the last 3 years, so I would probably still upgrade to get those.

Until Apple stops innovating across most of its product lineup, I don’t see any reason I would seriously consider switching to another brand. I would have to reconsider every aspect of how I use my electronics together. Not that everything I do isn’t possible with other services, I know they are because Android couldn’t compete if they weren’t. Until there's a very compelling reason to do so, one that Apple will clearly not match in the near future, I can’t imagine going through the learning curve of trying something new for photo syncing, phone and laptop backups, tap-to-pay, password management, contact migration, home control/automation, health data, etc. If I'm going to do that, I'm going to be very sure I'm not going back.

And I haven’t even mentioned all the little things I enjoy about how Apple’s products work together. How my text messages are available on whichever device I pick up, whether I'm working on my MacBook in the middle of the day, or reading before bed on my iPhad in the evening, how I can easily share and receive WiFi passwords with other iPhone users, how easy it is to pair AirPods and how they seamlessly transfer their connection to the device I’m actively using. Perhaps I should have started this post by simply listing all of the products and services I find useful and compelling. The things that make me feel pretty confident that I’ll be staying in the Apple ecosystem for the foreseeable future.

Here's a link to Apple's announcement.