Urging people to watch movies on the biggest screen possible, as the filmmakers intended, gives rise to memes. People mimic images of watching movies on the worst, least immersive devices possible, from iPods to Game Boys. I recall that during the iPhone 16 launch event, Apple said the new models have CPUs that “comparable to high-end desktop PCs” and “desktop-class GPU architecture.” And it made me wonder if anyone actually plays AAA games for long periods of time on a 6-inch smartphone.
Well, we all know that this is just Apple showing off the power of its in-house silicon. Considering that even the A-series SOCs run almost as fast as Intel’s flagship CPUs. We also all know that if you try to put the same load on an iPhone as you would on a desktop, it will burn out quickly. (As an example, Resident Evil Village made GamesHub’s iPhone 15 Pro “uncomfortably hot” and consumed 30% of its battery life in an hour.) All that power is perfect for tasks that the iPhone only needs for a short time, like audio or video processing, or bursts of generative AI (when it arrives) that Apple is naturally proud of being able to run on its devices.
But this obsession with raw power shows the company has lost sight of the iPhone’s uses and limitations. Sure, some people like to play Death Stranding on the bus to school or work, some people try to use the Notes app to write term papers, and there’s probably a filmmaker or two who uses an iPhone instead of Red, but they’re not a huge percentage of users.
Few people will use an iPhone for any serious work that would be impossible without a better user interface. The iPhone is great for photography, social media, communication, and casual gaming, but it’s not a full replacement for a laptop or a gaming console. Of course, you could use it for those things, but I’m not sure you should.
Another clear example is the demo of using Voice Note to record new vocals over a previously recorded backing track. It’s a great way to showcase the iPhone 16’s ability to separate audio even when the source is very close. Apple added the feature to Voice Note after receiving feedback from users that it had become a valuable tool in a musician’s arsenal. But it’s also a bit of a self-defeating move, given how Apple’s own multitrack recording platform, GarageBand, has been (rightfully) ignored and unloved for the past decade.
I think all this points to the fact that Apple, with its strengths in blending hardware and software, has run out of worlds to conquer with the former. After all, the new iPhones are great, but upgrades have been incremental for a long time. The new camera shutter button is flashy and high-tech, but adding a dedicated button for shooting is not groundbreaking. My Sony Ericsson K750i had such a button. It is also interesting to see how many iPhone users actually take advantage of those extra camera features (such as adjusting focal length and shooting in RAW) when shooting clips for TikTok. And if, like me, you don’t value Apple Intelligence much, or don’t think those features are all that appealing, there is little reason to rush out and upgrade.
It didn’t help that I was also reminded of something Steve Jobs said in 2010, when he compared personal computers to “trucks” that would become less important as people switched to “cars” like phones and tablets. Trucks are go-anywhere, do-anything tools that were essential more than a century ago, but were phased out as people began using more specific tools to fit their needs. But the iPhone 16 launch event felt like Apple was showing everyone that it’d stuffed a big truck engine into a Porsche.
Catch up on all the latest news from Apple’s iPhone 16 event!
