 Watch Mark Gurman discuss the latest iPhones on Bloomberg Television. When Apple Inc. introduced the original iPhone in 2007, the wireless carrier industry was aggressively pursuing a bold strategy: pushing consumers to upgrade to a new device every two years — at a steep discount. Apple, looking to break into the phone world, went all-in on that idea. By the time the second-generation iPhone went on sale in 2008, the device cost just $199 for most people — subsidized by wireless carriers. That model, the 3G, helped set the pattern for Apple's iPhone strategy for the next several years. In 2009, Apple introduced the iPhone 3GS. That was Apple's first new iPhone without a design change. The device was even introduced with a commercial that had a person declare, "I think it's the same" — though it did have new features like a faster processor and video recording. The following year, Apple did a more dramatic overhaul. The iPhone 4 had a new design, FaceTime, the first Retina display and high-definition video recording. A year later, Apple retained the same design — calling the model the 4S — but added 1080P video recording, a dual-core processor and, of course, the Siri digital assistant. By this point, Apple's biennial redesign schedule was well-established. The company would revamp the phone every other year, just in time for consumers to do their regular upgrades. The approach lasted until the mid-2010s. Over the 17-history of the iPhone, I count six genuinely new hardware redesigns: - iPhone 3G (2008)
- iPhone 4 (2010)
- iPhone 5 (2012)
- iPhone 6 (2014)
- iPhone X (2017)
- iPhone 12 (2020)
By the launch of the iPhone X in 2017, Apple had moved to a three-year redesign cycle. Back then, that extra year of development made sense. The iPhone X was a gigantic upgrade, with its ground-up redesign, Face ID and other new software. From there, it took Apple another three years to bring out its next big overhaul: the iPhone 12. This was the first iPhone to connect to 5G networks, and the launch took place at the height of the pandemic. The company also had new screen sizes, manufacturing techniques and four distinct models for the first time. But after that, the redesign lag got even lengthier. Apple now appears to be working on a half-decade-long cycle. For better or for worse, the iPhone 16 has a nearly identical look and feel as the iPhone 12. Apple has added a lot other features between 2020 and 2024, but it's undeniable that the days of frequent hardware changes are over. Has this hurt Apple's sales? It's hard to tell. The company did suffer a revenue decline last year — partly due to slower iPhone sales — though much of the smartphone industry was mired in a slump. A reliable group of customers still upgrade every year or two because of the iPhone Upgrade Program, trade-in offers or carrier installment programs (even if the incentives aren't as generous as they once were). Millions of additional upgrades come from people like me, who will get a new model each year because they simply love Apple devices. And it does look like the iPhone 16 may well be a hit product, based on the early buzz on launch day. But for a company looking to prove that it still has design chops — now that most of Jony Ive's vaunted team has left the building — the lack of major overhauls in recent years is notable. Ive left Apple in 2019, but remained a consultant for a few years afterward. So it's very likely that we haven't yet seen a major new Apple product that he wasn't involved with — at least to some extent. Still, the iPhone 16 has some changes that users will probably love. I picked up a Pro Max model on Friday and have been putting it through its paces this weekend. Here are my first impressions: - When the phone is in a case, it's nearly indistinguishable from the last few iPhones. Even the slimmer bezels basically disappear when the device is in a cover. To notice the reduced edges, you also need to put the phone up against the iPhone 15 Pro side by side. That said, the change is more noticeable if you're coming from an iPhone 14.
- Also negligible: the screen size increases. Unless you're coming from a model that's older than an iPhone 12, the bigger displays won't be noticeable and don't add much during day-to-day use.
- The processor gains are more impressive (15% faster for the main chip). I found that launching apps and jumping between windows actually has been snappier.
- In just a couple of days of use, the improvements to battery life are already apparent. On its website, Apple quotes a four-hour boost over the iPhone 15 Pro Max for video playback. If that holds up over time, that's a remarkable gain.
- I find the Camera Control interface — the main addition — to be terrific. It takes a few minutes to get the hang of it (how hard you need to press and how to swipe between camera settings), but once you do, you probably won't want to use the touch screen for operating the camera app any longer. I do wish, however, that you could swipe between camera modes (spatial, slow-mo, panorama, etc.) via the interface as well.
There are other camera improvements, such as the expanded Photographic Styles options and the new ultrawide camera lens. Still, it doesn't feel like a radically different experience. To that end, it's no accident that the company is touting Apple Intelligence as the main reason to buy a new iPhone — despite the fact that the AI platform is unfinished and will ultimately work on last year's Pro models. This is where Apple is being a little disingenuous with its marketing. The company claims the iPhone 16 is the first model "built from the ground up for Apple Intelligence." The reality is that the processor and other hardware in the new iPhones isn't meaningfully better for AI. The key factor is having 8 gigabytes of memory, the minimum required to run Apple Intelligence. If Apple felt that the hardware changes were enough of a selling point, it would have focused its marketing pitch around those features. Instead, it has zeroed in on Apple Intelligence in spite of the drawbacks. Most consumers won't have access to the software for weeks — with some features not coming until next year — and it's still nowhere near as capable as rival AI systems. Even if all of Apple Intelligence was available today — including the emoji generator called Genmoji, Image Playground and the new Siri — there's little here that makes these iPhones a must-buy. In general, it's rare for Apple to rely on software to market a new iPhone. But it has happened before. The last time was also related to AI: It was when the company launched Siri in the iPhone 4S. But that was a very different situation. The design of the iPhone 4S was still fairly new, having only been introduced a year prior. And in 2011, the Siri voice interface felt like a sci-fi vision. This time around, the AI features feel like they're two years behind the competition. Besides buying a new iPhone, I also picked up an Apple Watch Ultra 2 in black. I am coming from last year's Ultra 2 in silver, and while there are zero changes other than the color, I'm a huge fan of the device and have been clamoring for one in black. It's absolutely not worthwhile for 99.9% of people to get this "upgrade," but the over $300 in trade-in credit for my old one made it a bit easier for me. Though the Series 10 model is this year's big Apple smartwatch upgrade, I prefer the Ultra for several reasons: - When I moved from the original Apple Watch to the Ultra 2 last year, I found the shift from 2,000 nits of display brightness to 3,000 nits to be a noticeable and helpful improvement. The Series 10, however, sticks to a 2,000-nit display, making the Ultra 2 a third brighter.
- While the Series 10 is nearly half as thin and far lighter than the Ultra 2, there's a big trade-off: The Ultra 2 has double the battery life. I like to charge my watch every two days, and a Series 10 would probably die on me by the end of the evening each day. That also makes it less useful for sleep tracking, though the Series 10 can charge quite quickly.
- The programmable Action button on the Ultra is terrific. It's a quick way for me to trigger tracking for outdoor walks.
- I don't find the slightly updated OLED display technology or the S10 chip on the Series 10 to be meaningful. The watch isn't any faster than the Ultra 2, and the viewing angles aren't noticeably better.
- While Apple is marketing the Series 10 display as larger than the one on the Ultra 2, the screen is actually less than 3% bigger. Side by side, there is no difference.
- I am a huge fan of the Modular Ultra watch face, which didn't make its way to the Series 10. This face gives me six small complications — the watch face's data-tracking functions — as well as one large complication in the middle of the screen. I wouldn't really want to use any other face.
Here's hoping that the Ultra 3 next year gets a meaningfully faster chip and begins to shed some thickness. But I have no intention of shifting to a non-Ultra watch given all of the current benefits. | 
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