The best thing about the iPhone is the experience, not the hardware

This story is part of it Focal Point iPhone 2022a collection of CNET news, tips and advice on Apple’s most popular product.

Tomorrow, it will be 15 years since the first iPhone was sold. When Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone, he ironically promoted it as three revolutionary products: an iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator. The first iPhone was only available in one size and all you had was whether to buy one with 4 GB of storage or 8 GB. In terms of operators, Apple’s first phone was only supported by AT&T.

At the time, the idea of ​​wearing an iPhone instead of a flip phone and an iPod was enough to convince some people to buy it. For others like me, the main attraction of the iPhone was the touch screen, which looked unreal and futuristic.

“One of the unique things from the very beginning [the] The iPhone was to combine software, services and hardware to create a simple, powerful kind of magical experience, ”said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of product marketing. “And with the original iPhone, it was a multi-touch interaction, and pinched closer to where you began to see them coming together.”

Fifteen years later, Apple sells eight different iPhone models, five of which have been launched in the last 10 months. There is at least one version that works with almost all major telephone operators in the world. iPhone is available in a variety of colors, finishes, sizes and storage options that now reach a maximum capacity of 1 TB. And even though most of the magic takes place on the screen, it’s no longer the main attraction of the iPhone.

Over the last decade and a half, what defines the iPhone has shifted from mere design and hardware specifications. Instead, the iPhone and iOS have become a gateway to Apple’s services and features, such as iMessage, FaceTime, Siri, Apple Music, Apple Pay, high-end cameras, and apps like Uber, TikTok, Twitter, and WhatsApp. For better or worse, the iPhone has become home to our photos, music, conversations, ideas, games, identity, work, social networking, shopping, keys and money.

In 2022, the iPhone continued to expand beyond the slim metal and glass chassis into the world around us. It is the backbone for products such as Apple Watch and AirPodsand will probably play a role in that future Apple products such as the famous AR glasses.

It also serves as the foundation for Apple’s digital services, which are becoming an increasingly important factor in distinguishing the iPhone from competing mobile devices. These services have evolved rapidly in recent years along with the iPhone.

Find My, which began in 2010 as a tool for locating a lost iPhone, has grown into a network for finding Apple devices and almost anything you can connect. Small AirTag trackers from Apple on. Some products, e.g. VanMoof S3 wheel, they even have built – in Find My support, so you don’t have to completely add AirTag. Since 2021, Apple’s Find My network has had hundreds of millions of devices, most of which were iPhones.

Just weeks ago at WWDC, Apple’s annual software developer conference announced by iOS 16 with an extension to its nearly ten-year-old Wallet app and Apple Pay service. Apple basically wants to make your physical wallet obsolete. There is also a new function called Apple Pay later This allows you to split the cost of purchasing Apple Pay into four equal payments spread over six weeks, with zero interest and no fees. It is done exclusively through your iPhone.

In fact, you need an iPhone to access or use most of these services. Keep in mind that for years, the iPhone’s premium price has been unavailable to many, and that’s still true of the top-of-the-line Apple iPhone Pro models. Recently upgraded iPhone SE gives Apple the opportunity to extend the reach of the iPhone even further. It is the purest example of what defines the iPhone in 2022. SE connects the body of the iPhone 8 to the glass and processor of iPhone 13. At $ 429, it’s currently the most affordable way to get people to experience Apple.

I talked to Borchers before the launch of the iPhone SE in March about the phone and why Apple added the A15 Bionic chip to it.

“In fact, it’s a really easy decision to put as many skills into it as we can today to invest and create opportunities for this future experience. It’s something that sets us apart from others,” Borchers said.

No other telephone manufacturer uses this approach. It would be as if Samsung used the body of its Galaxy S8 and put it Galaxy S22 computing power inside. The Upcoming Pixel 6A will be the first low – cost Android phone to use the same processor, Google ‘s Tensor chip, as the flagship Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. Of course, Google doesn’t put it in the body of Pixel 2 and instead introduces a new design.

It makes sense that Apple’s cheapest phone has the same processor as its most expensive: It’s about giving people access to the Apple experience. For example, if you buy an iPhone SE, you can use Live Text in iOS 15 to capture text with the camera or copy it from a photo. And while the 2016 and 2020 versions of the iPhone SE sold well, it seems that the 2022 version doesn’t break any sales records yet. Apple does not disclose a specific model breakdown of how many iPhones it sells, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has reduced its delivery estimates for the iPhone SE (2022) by 10 million. The lower demand could be due to rising inflation and the fact that the 2022 and 2020 versions of the iPhone SE look identical.

The lock in Shanghai does not affect the production of the iPhone SE. However, demand for the new iPhone SE is lower than expected (“stock” delivery status as one of the evidence) and I reduced my shipment estimate in 2022 to 15-20 million (compared to 25-30 million earlier).

– ing 錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 28, 2022

SE shows how iOS and Apple Silicon become the foundation of everything you do on your iPhone. Obviously, not every model in Apple’s iPhone line is the same. More expensive phones, such as the iPhone 13 Pro, come with a modern design, high refresh rate screens, larger camera sensors and tools such as the ultra-wideband U1 chip and lidar.

These extra benefits mean you can use your iPhone in multiple ways. For example, if you have the right car, you can unlock it and start it with your iPhone. Borscher describes such moments as “automagic”, which means that it just works. The same way a couple of AirPods can switch from your iPhone to a Mac for watching videos, or how you can unlock your Mac with Apple Watch.

Of course, such growth has consequences. Antitrust concerns about the application business and mobile paymentsdebate on screen time, Apple’s controversial negotiations with the FBIcriticism that all these services are part of a strategies to lock people into Apple’s ecosystem and recently, privacy issues via AirTags are just some of the concerns that are growing along with the rocket success of the iPhone. There are even questions about whether Apple can launch another product line that is even half as successful as the iPhone. My CNET colleague and Apple reporter Ian Sherr points this out products like Apple Watch and AirPods are lucrative mainly due to their connection with the iPhone.

In 15 years, the iPhone has become ubiquitous, helping Apple become a company with nearly $ 3 trillion. Another iteration of the phone, probably called iPhone 14is expected to launch this September. It will undoubtedly run on iOS 16 and will have the latest version of Apple’s A-series processor and will continue to support the Apple experience. In terms of the long term, my colleague Lisa Eadicicco thinks the most important part of future iPhones It will be how it works with everything around.