Apple is making a big bet that consumers want a smartphone with dual cameras, with the latest leaks suggesting the upcoming iPhone 7 Plus will include the supercharged photography feature — and a lot of strange timing.
If past product cycles hold — and the leaks and analysts suggest they will — Apple will introduce its iPhone 7 line in September. That could be huge strategic blunder, though, if it leaves them without a dramatically new model to unveil just months later on the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone in January 2017.
Apple recently reported its worst quarter in over a decade, sending shares down a whopping 8 percent in a day on the news that sales fell for the first time since 2003. That’s a particularly bad look for the company as the anniversary nears.
It would be just over a week into the new year, on Jan. 9, 2017, that Apple would celebrate a decade since the late Steve Jobs held up the first iPhone at the Macworld conference in San Francisco. But if Apple releases the iPhone 7 this year, hard-core fans are going to wait for the edgeless glass-encased iPhone 8 that Apple is said to be working on to mark the anniversary.
On one hand, Apple’s terrible last quarter means it cannot afford to wait six months before its next big product unveil. On the other hand, it can’t afford to waste the giant sales opportunity of a 10-year-anniversary victory lap. That’s the Cupertino quandary.
A note about that edgeless iPhone that’s supposed to be coming our way: good grief. Now instead of just worrying constantly about my screen cracking, I can also live in fear that the sides and back of my iPhone will shatter with every drop and bump. Such is the price of iPhone fandom.
On the plus side, the iPhone 7’s move to dual cameras would allow for wide-angle and telephoto photography — and potentially even 3-D images.
Apple may also be planning to do away with the standard headphone jack, opting instead for a cord-free Bluetooth earbud that would come bundled with the iPhone 7. This would be a golden opportunity to offer an exclusive headset from the company’s newest and hippest audio subsidiary, Beats Electronics. The addition of a Beats earbud or headset to the standard iPhone purchase would likely help peel off some Android market share and resuscitate Apple’s flatlining iPhone sales.
Evidence suggests Apple may take the opportunity to do away with its midcycle refresh, meaning that there may be no iPhone 7S model. But more surprisingly, reports have been circulating in China that Apple will add a third tier to its September rollout, the iPhone 7 Pro.
Apple’s continual adjustment of the iPhone and iPad product line seems to have impacted the value perception of its products, if falling sales are any indication. And frankly, it’s getting confusing. Jobs was roundly criticized for his stubborn adherence to a limited product line, but those limitations added an air of exclusivity to the company’s hardware offerings that no longer seems to be the case.
However, another development that Jobs never would have allowed is working to the company’s benefit — all of these product leaks by manufacturers and component suppliers. Apple stock has been steadily creeping back up since those leaks intensified. Either it’s a carefully orchestrated media sprinkle, or Apple lucked out with a bunch of suppliers who can’t keep their mouths shut.
