Source: TechWeb
Author: Suky

In the early morning of September 13, 2023, Beijing time$Apple (AAPL.US)$The latest generation of smartphones, the iPhone 15 series, was released. “Amazing” and “Awesome” were all over the stage and offstage. Amidst the cheers of the digital media, the fall Apple press conference, known as the “Science and Technology Spring Festival Gala,” came to an end.

In my opinion, it really couldn't be more appropriate to call the Apple press conference the “Science and Technology Spring Festival Gala.” The Spring Festival Gala went from being an empty alley of thousands of people back then, and was hotly debated by the people to the point where it is now impossible to watch or watch. No one paid attention to it. It has been about 20 years. However, the Apple iPhone press conference was just as exciting as the Spring Festival Gala. It was becoming more and more uniform, more and more boring, more and more uninteresting, and it fell even faster than the Spring Festival Gala.

Of course, the success or failure of the press conference is not important; the level of product power is the key to determining whether a new product is finally popular. There has never been a shortage of “fruit fans” in China. When it comes to Apple phones, they are very familiar with it, and they never get tired of it. However, there are also more digital enthusiasts who like to pursue newer technology, greater breakthroughs, and want more possibilities.

As a former leader in black technology, and as a leader in the smartphone industry in the past, the iPhone must have led the competition for many years. Those once stunning industrial designs, the once dazzling Retina screen, and the once dazzling Retina screen all made fans rejoice in the reckless era of smartphones at the time. However, with the sales volume of high-end phones far ahead and rising awareness, Apple's innovation in the iPhone is also becoming more and more conservative. It is afraid to easily accept the introduction of new technology, and it is afraid to change its relatively stable strategy, so Apple phones are bound to stop moving forward. Especially after the death of Jobs, Apple under Cook reflected more of its businessman character and lost the undertone of Apple, which had been designed first and based on innovation.

When the iPhone is based on maintaining stability, and when Apple's top priority is to make money, then we unexpectedly discovered that the giant that once led the industry has disappeared.

The new iPhone 15 series is no exception. Those update points that have been hailed for a long time, such as the Type-C interface, such as the telephoto lens, are all old problems that have been misused by other Android devices. Fruit fans are like a bitter child who has been suppressed for too long. If you give them some sunshine, they can't even understand the basic configuration that a high-end smartphone should have. What's funny is, on the contrary, they will shout out for Apple's attitude similar to charity.

Is this really normal?

We've listed the following eight points as reasons why the iPhone 15 series models are not worth buying. These reasons must not be accepted by everyone. After all, in the minds of some people, Apple is still a symbol of that identity and the representative of that smartphone.

But what we want to express is that if we are a digital enthusiast, a geek, or even a practitioner in the smartphone-related industry, we urgently need to establish a relatively objective standard of judgment, rather than just people and clouds, pointing the finger at the horse. After all, the iPhone has always been a product actually used for consumption, not an idou used by the food industry to be inadvertently sought after.

1. The signal is still poor

As early as the iPhone 7, iPhone 8, and iPhone X era, Apple phones used mixed basebands. Some came from Intel, and some came from$Qualcomm (QCOM.US)$. However, starting with the iPhone 11, Apple began to use the Qualcomm baseband as the iPhone's RF system on a large scale. However, from the first “ancient” iPhone and iPhone 4 to the current iPhone XS, iPhone 11, 13, and 14, Apple phones have been widely criticized and faced with class action lawsuits due to issues such as antenna doors and poor signal.

There are certainly environmental factors that affect the mobile phone signal, such as the distance from the base station, whether it is in a relatively closed environment such as an elevator, basement, or subway. Even at large concerts, the signal is not good because too many people use the same signal band at the same time. However, it is undeniable that often in the same environment, Android phones are always much better at sending and receiving signals than iPhones.

The root of the problem is that Android phones generally use the Qualcomm Family Bucket, which is a matching SoC+baseband chip combination, and the signal is naturally good. However, Apple uses a Qualcomm plug-in baseband, and the results are definitely not as good as Qualcomm's native adapter. Of course, Apple also has the goal of developing its own baseband chip. This will not only enable the iPhone to have a faster internet speed, but also further reduce chip costs and win more profit.

However, without decades of accumulation of communication technology, Apple must go back on the path that Huawei and Qualcomm have followed. On September 12, Qualcomm announced that it has reached an agreement with Apple to continue to supply RF systems and the Snapdragon 5G baseband for iPhones in 2024, 2025, and 2026. This means that at least in the third generation of products starting with the iPhone 15, Apple still decided to use Qualcomm's external baseband solution. At the same time, it also means that Apple's performance on signal issues is still not worth looking forward to.

2. One abrasive tool started three years ago, and the appearance is nothing new

Once upon a time, Apple was synonymous with innovation. The first capacitive screen smartphones, iOS systems, and Retina display technology are all important driving forces leading the development of the smartphone industry.

However, after Jobs passed away, Apple completely abandoned the innovation gene that had persisted for many years, on the premise of not making mistakes, and based on maximizing interests. Under Cook's leadership, it continued to eat old roots. From being a smartphone leader, it became synonymous with conservatism and old age step by step, like lying on the credit book back then$Nokia Oyj (NOK.US)$.

Over the past few years, many new smartphone technologies have been created, including but not limited to under-screen fingerprinting, multi-focus photography, fast charging technology, folding screen display solutions, etc. And what about Apple? One mold has been around for at least three years. Even for the newly released iPhone 15 series, the edge of the screen is slightly curved; this is just a minor repair in response to consumer complaints.

Also, think about Lingdong Island, which was born last year. Now it has been completely distributed to all iPhone 15 products. Fans are grateful to Dade. However, in the eyes of others, it's nothing more than the fact that the whole department is still ugly. The full-screen, narrow-frame technology has been used on a large scale by Android competitors, and there are various solutions, yet Apple is so stubborn in its opinions that it is also difficult for consumers to understand.

3. As a last resort, switch to Type-C interface

Changing the entire iPhone 15 to the Type-C interface was not Apple's original intention; it was only a last resort due to pressure from the European Union. Apple says that not sending chargers is environmentally friendly, but the EU says that they all switch to Type-C connectors and unify charging cables, which is environmentally friendly in the true sense of the word.

In the early days, with the advantage that the Lightning interface did not distinguish between front and back, Apple did take the lead and dominated the screen for a long time. However, with the continuous evolution of the Type-C interface, advantages such as PD output and fast charging, the Lightning interface is already out of breath.

However, Apple just refuses to take the step of changing the interface for the consumer experience; even if it makes consumers endure poor charging and transmission speeds, they are happy to do so. At the end of the day, what Apple is interested in is not the consumer's feelings at all; it is all about business.

You need to know that every year, Apple can earn a lot of revenue through the MFI certification of Lightning cables. This is also the reason why Apple is ignoring the interests of consumers.

Fortunately, the EU's grace period has come to an end this year, and Apple had no choice but to install the Type-C interface on the iPhone 15. In this way, the charging heads for iPads and MacBooks can finally be consistent with the iPhone series, and consumers can finally go out with less cables. But even so, given what it used to be, Apple is still unable to welcome respect.

4. Battery life is difficult to guarantee, charging is slow and battery consumption is fast

There are always people who say that the battery life of the iPhone 14 Pro Max has improved, but have you ever thought about it? This is because of its huge body and weight, which have increased the battery capacity in disguise. You need to know that the iPhone 14 Pro Max is heavier than some folding screen phones, and the battery life is still that long, is it fair to say?

However, for most iPhone users who use non-Pro Max Apple phones, the battery life is really not that great. Charging twice a day, and charging speed is extremely slow. Charging heat has always been a common problem with Apple phones. When it comes to the iPhone 15 series, the power consumption problem still shows no sign of changing.

So what about charging power? Even if the Type-C interface is supported, the PD fast charging protocol with a higher wattage can be used, but compared to Android's most powerful 240w flash charge at present, it is still a fraction.

5. High-process chips are empty, but the heat dissipation capacity is close to zero

The iPhone 15 series is equipped with a brand new A17 chip and an epic 3 nm process, bringing Apple phones to another level in terms of performance release and power consumption performance. However, whether the chip's performance is good or bad is not only related to computing power and process, but also heat dissipation, which is also critical.

You can often see various presentations on heat dissipation at various Android phone product launches, including graphene chips, silicone grease, large area heat dissipation plates, etc. On Apple phones, the priority of cooling is so low that it's hard to believe.

The most familiar complaints from mobile game players using iPhones when gaming: frequency reduction, frame loss, heat loss, brightness reduction, etc. are endless. So, is it possible for the iPhone 15 to fix such problems? On the premise that there are no major changes to the iPhone 15 series abrasives, I don't see any hope of solving the problem.

As the advertisement says, even the best shows can't come out without sound. The same goes for Apple. No heat dissipation, no matter how powerful a chip is, is useless.

6. Memory upgrades are fiddling, and backstage killings are still rampant

Although it was previously reported that the standard version of the iPhone 15 uses 6GB of RAM and the top version uses 8GB of RAM, this announcement did not appear on the product introduction page on the official website. Compared to Android, which has now reached 24GB of RAM, even with the top version of 8GB of RAM, it's just too much to be done on the iPhone 15.

Of course, at this point, many fans jump out and say that Android and iOS have different back-office mechanisms. iOS uses a tombstone mechanism, so it doesn't need that huge amount of memory to keep up. Admittedly, there is some truth to this statement, but with the continuous expansion of iOS apps, 6GB-8GB of memory will also cause the phenomenon of killing the back office more and more obvious.

We often see the embarrassment of Apple phone users playing games, cutting out the reply message and restarting the game. This is certainly a memory pot. I've always believed that smartphones are people-oriented and serve people. But Apple did the opposite. However, the strong adaptability of iOS users still makes me feel ashamed.

7. The level of photography is still average

Everyone in the industry knows about the iPhone's ability to shoot videos, and it's not too much to call it an industry benchmark. However, not everyone is an UP owner. I believe for the vast majority of ordinary people, the number of times they take a photo once in a while is definitely more frequent than shooting a video.

However, in terms of hardware configuration, the lens module of the iPhone 15 series is really not enough to see. Although telephoto support has been added to the top version, the other versions are still only usable.

In recent years, domestic Android phones have been shooting images. Whether it is the physical quality of the lens or the image algorithm, it has reached a new level. Even for non-flagship phones such as the Honor 90Pro and OPPO Reno10 Pro+, none of their achievements in video can be shaken by the iPhone 15, let alone professional video phones such as the Huawei 60 and Xiaomi 13 Ultra.

On the one hand is Apple, which is stepping right where it is in terms of video, and on the other is the Android phone camp, which is advancing by leaps and bounds in terms of video. If you really value photography, how to choose one is self-evident.

8. The software experience logic is confusing

“I've been kidnapped by Apple Ecology! I'm used to iOS and can't go back”. It seems that the vast majority of fruit fans can't help but shout this kind of argument.

But since there are a lot of people shouting, is that necessarily correct?

There have been few major changes to iOS over the years. The icons cannot be customized and replaced, and the aesthetics are fatigued. This is still a minor problem. However, it does not support functions such as double opening, call recording, and long screen captures for commonly used domestic applications, which is why Apple is not aggressive. Let's also talk about WeChat, a national-level app. When Android users receive a push, their first thought is to open the content, while the first thing that catches their eye is often the three words “receiving.”

Coupled with the increasingly strict review of Apple's national service, we are increasingly unable to enjoy the experience of internationally common software. Of course, there is also a way to change the service. On the one hand, at present, it is becoming more and more difficult to register an external iOS account, and it is also difficult to guarantee security. On the other hand, Apple itself also stumbles into changing clothes. For example, I personally experienced that every time I change clothes, all songs downloaded to Apple Music are emptied. Faced with the loss of hundreds of G songs, I really feel like crying without tears.

summed

The variety described above is only a microcosm of Apple phones, including the iPhone 15 series, gradually falling out of the times. Other similar aspects include not supporting infrared remote control and not supporting NFC door card copying, etc. It is cliché; it is a cliché; it cannot be forced.

Even though not only digital enthusiasts can survive in this world, there are still a large number of people who regard the Apple brand as a god and the iPhone as a symbol of identity. Similarly, there are also a large number of people who don't care about developments in the digital field; they just use mobile phones as tools.

I don't mind people following their habits and buying products that suit them, including iPhones. However, I want to make it clear that the smartphone products in this world are no longer the only ones owned by Apple; it is no longer an age where other competitors catch up with each other.

Keep your eyes open, try more, and maybe you'll find a more interesting product?

editor/tolk