Apple’s iPhone 7 aim is ‘premium’, not ‘innovation’

Apple has again set the bar on premium flagship, but Jobs’ vision of ‘one device’ is firmly in the past.

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during the iPhone 7 launch event. Picture: Stephen Lam/Getty Images/AFP.

The iPhone7 is out and Apple has predictably decided against giving its flagship a radical overhaul. It’s a perfectly reasonable decision and while some will criticise the lack of any meaningful ‘innovation’, Apple hasn’t been interested in that for some time.

The word that really matters to Apple is ‘premium’, which the tech giant has become supremely efficient in turning into profit.

Every September the company mobilises to set the bar on what a premium flagship should be and if has mostly managed to do that again with the iPhone 7.

It may look like the iPhone 6 but under the hood Apple has made some much needed upgrades.

Battery life has been upgraded, courtesy of the A10 Fusion processor, it’s finally water and dust resistant, and there’s an extra speaker where the 3.5mm headphone jack used to be.

There’s also an extra camera but only in the iPhone 7 plus, which is a reflection of how things have changed at Apple since the days of co-founder Steve Jobs. Since making a belated entry into the ‘phablet’ market in 2014 Apple has continued to make the ‘plus’ model the platform that commands the highest price tag.

The iPhone 7 plus will cost an eye-watering $A1269 and for that price consumers should expect a lot. Whether the iPhone 7 plus delivers on that front remains to be seen but Steve Jobs’ singular vision of giving customer one device for everything is now firmly consigned to the past.

The iPhone 7 plus is designed to further enlarge Apple’s burgeoning coffers and ASX-listed mobile games developer Animoca Brands’ chief executive Robby Yung says the extra camera plus the wireless headphones – that cost an extra $A229 - will almost certainly help the tech giant rake in more cash.

“They’ve just given the iPhone a 20 per cent price hike with that move. Also, the product video on Apple.com shows that they’re likely going to target the Asian market with this one, many of the scenes are filmed in Hong Kong,” Yung said.

“It will be a major coup when they get everyone to pony up $A229 for headphones, no matter how cool, that were previously free.

Melbourne start-up PoweredLocal’s boss Michael Jankie is a fan of the iPhone 7 plus but he’s not convinced about the bluetooth headphones.

“I am doing more and more off my phone and screen-size is becoming more of a productivity barrier, so having the bigger size is about functionality,” he says.

“But I have a concern with wireless technology and connectivity times, loading times are already an issue and Bluetooth will add to that as it’s slow to load.”

Jankie hopes the specs will live up to the hype and the improved processing power and battery life will further empower mobile workers.

But there’s always room for improvement and the lack of wireless charging, available in other brands, is an area that still needs to be addressed. Siri’s role in the overall Apple growth story is still a work in progress but 12 months is a long time in the tech world and by this time next year voice is likely to be much more central to the overall Apple experience.

There’s a uniform predictability to everything Apple does with its devices and that may explain to some extent why this one brand, more than anyone else, has managed to become a moniker for mainstream.

The iPhone 7 is not the first smartphone to bring wireless charging to the public but it will be the one that will become synonymous with the revolution. It will also pocket a nice bit of change along the way as well. And the new phone may not have much time to bask in the limelight either. With the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone coming up next year, Apple is likely to pull all the stops with the 2017 edition.