Many people are salivating at the idea of the latest edition of the iPhone series without knowing any information about it whatsoever, just because they're loyalists and fond of the brand. As an outsider, it's going to take more than just the word "new" to get me in line. Since rumors are flying around now about this latest release, I started looking at the details to see if anything stood out to me. Here's some of the information I've come across so far.
Note: Remember that this is speculation on a lot of websites' parts, so don't take this information as 100% fact.
Name = iPhone 7 or iPhone 6s Plus or...
Let's start off with something very basic: the name. Right now, it isn't even confirmed that the name will be the iPhone 7, although most people are referring to it as such. An alternative name rumor is that it will be the iPhone 6s Plus, but there are also reports saying it could be named anything from the iPhone Air to something totally new.
What's in a name? Marketing can go a long way based on a name, but I'm not buying a product based on its name alone. I'd be hesitant to purchase a phone called "The Piece of Shit That Never Works", but you could name it "Totally the Most Awesome Phone Ever" and it wouldn't make me pull out my wallet. More people would be willing to buy the iPhone 7 than the iPhone 6s Plus, though, I'd assume, because it would seem like a bigger upgrade and worth the price difference.
Size = probably 4.7 or 5.5 inches
I'm someone who doesn't like phones that are too huge, but not super small, either. I currently have an LG G3, which is 5.7 inches and sometimes can be a little cumbersome. All in all, if the new iPhone is around this size, I'm okay with that.
As far as the thickness goes, one can assume that it would be slimmer than previous models, but that's not a guarantee. Even if it is, I can't seem to find a straight answer for how much it would be. At a certain point, if phones get too thin while being too wide, they become awkward to hold. As long as they keep that in mind and don't make it super thick, that's a plus.
Standard Improvements
It would be odd to hear that the new iPhone would be worse in any way such as camera resolution, display, battery life, and so forth. Then again, how much of an improvement can you really tell between cameras that are already good or displays that are comparable to one another?
When it comes to battery life, that might even end up being worse than before! Sometimes, stronger processors and such just suck up the juice more by default and these companies would rather not call attention to it. If you start seeing advertisements that basically equate to "Oh, uh, battery life? Well, uh, before I answer that question, let me show you all these cool new features. Woaaaah, totally awesome, eh? So cool! Bells and whistles! Who cares about that battery, am I right? Apple! WOO!" then we'll get our answer that it's a downgrade.
Capacity Expectations
Supposedly, there will be three versions: 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB. This is one of the biggest reasons why I've never gotten an iPhone in the past. I like the idea of being able to put a memory card in and expand my phone's space and it kind of bugs me even just in theory that Apple ignores that idea. That just feels like a means to grab as much money as possible and beat down the consumer with the idea that they should avoid buying products (memory cards, in this case) from other companies in any case.
Pricing
That leads us to the biggest reason why I'm an Android guy, which is the cost. Estimates for the iPhone 7 place it at the $900 mark. Hell no! I'm still trying to pay off my $600 LG G3, which I wrestled with the price of for quite a while. Particularly if you have an iPhone 6 or some other kind of phone, Android or not, that isn't outdated or broken, I just can't see spending a thousand dollars on an upgrade unless that upgrade is massively significant. If money is nothing to you, then my opinion on that matter means even less, so you'll go ahead and get it anyway, but if you're someone like myself who has to watch what he spends, $900 is hard to justify no matter how you cut it.
BOTTOM LINE: Nope, I won't be converted to the Apple side of things.
When you don't have the money to upgrade your phone constantly, you need to be conservative of which upgrades you do. The main reason why I switched to the LG G3 was because my previous phone (LG Optimus L9) was rather outdated and wasn't functioning as well anymore. Since receiving the last Lollipop "upgrade" to my phone, it's had a bunch of problems that it never had before, which are irking the crap out of me, but those problems combined with what's being spoken about for the iPhone 7 aren't enough to convince me to make such a drastic switch.
To an extent, some of this is just the Apple brand's methodology itself. As someone who doesn't own any of their products, it feels like a commitment I'm not willing to make. Most people I know treat Apple loyalty as a lifestyle choice where they get sucked into buying all types of their products down the line. Some of those people, naturally, just do it because they prefer those specs, which is the right reason for purchasing them. Others, though, buy them just because they recognize the name better and like being able to say that they own that product. I've never seen the reason to spend $50 on a plain white t-shirt from a more expensive store if the quality is the same at Old Navy for $5, so if you took an iPhone 7's label off, called it the jPhone 7 and decreased the price to $600, I'd be more open to the idea.
Another reason why I can't see myself changing is the lack of flexibility. 16GB has been more than enough for me so far with my LG G3, but if I found myself needing more storage, I'd be screwed if I had an iPhone. With mine, I can just put in that memory card I purchased for $5 and be all set. I also like being able to use cables and other accessories from a wide variety of vendors rather than needing to have Apple-brand everything, for the most part.
Really, if nothing is screaming out to me to upgrade to the LG G4 at this time, then I'm really seeing even less of a reason to go over to the iPhone 7 for even more money. It may be newer and fancier in some ways, but until it starts pulling out some Minority Report holograms and Iron Man-style J.A.R.V.I.S. artificial intelligence, it's just a big check for some minor improvements in my mind.
The iPhone 7 is set to be released sometime around September with an official launch day not currently announced. Until then, speculation and rumors will run wild and people will be asking whether the iPhone 7 will be a success or a failure.
More importantly than what I think, though, what do YOU think? Are you an iPhone user who is excited about this new release or are you sticking with what you currently have? Are you an Android user who will be making the switch come September?
Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
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