Apple's Vertu Syndrome: Is iPhone Just a Status Symbol Now?
How Apple Lost Its Technology Leadership and Became Only a Brand
I have been following Apple events for more than 10 years. As both a developer and technology enthusiast, it is not wrong to discuss the technologies that Apple has developed, especially for phones and accessories. Also, their developer ecosystem and profit-sharing model is very creative. However, Apple events are becoming less interesting day by day because Apple is seriously losing ground. I have written about both their events and Apple many times. The iPhone and other accessories introduced at the last event interested me so little that I only read the event news a few hours after it ended. A few weeks ago, Google also introduced their new phone and accessories. Of course, as before, it stayed in the shadow of the Apple event. This is a marketing success, but can Apple follow this marketing success technologically?
What Did We See?
While Apple announced the iPhone 17 series and ultra-thin iPhone Air at its event on September 9th, Google presented an "AI-focused" future vision with the Pixel 10 series at its event on August 20th. So what do these two launches tell technology enthusiasts and potential users?
Apple's new iPhone models are again stylish in design and again include more powerful processors and screens. These updates are now standard for every launch. The slides showing how much faster the processor is compared to the previous one are among the most mocked topics. However, they seem to have stopped developing artificial intelligence. I'm sure they live in a different universe, but I can't prove it.
Google, on the other hand, promises almost a "smart assistant" function in the Pixel phone, especially with camera and AI features. However, they are not as successful as Apple in design. They also have foldable models. Even a deaf sultan knows that Apple wants to enter this market too.
What Will We See?
There is still an expectation of a smart Siri from Apple. If we live long enough, it is said that this might happen around 2026. It is even said that Siri will work together with Gemini (Google's AI assistant). Personally, I have given up hope even for Siri becoming smart. I think Apple positions itself as elegant and a status symbol and wants to stay in that area.
Before Apple dominated the market, there were Vertu branded phones. They were in a position similar to iPhone now. Vertu was established in 1998 as Nokia's luxury phone brand, producing handmade leather-covered phones decorated with gold details and precious stones. These devices, priced between $10,000-50,000, were no different technologically from ordinary Nokia phones. Vertu's success was completely built on "prestige" - they were selling jewelry, not phones. The brand, which went bankrupt in 2017, showed the end of focusing only on status instead of technology. Today, I think iPhone is going the same way: selling only as a symbol of wealth without promising anything technological.
What Do We Want?
I still think the expectations of the qualified majority have changed. Users are now looking for not only "stylish phones" but also "smart phones." The balance between hardware aesthetics and artificial intelligence will determine the winner of the future. Let's go a little further: which of the hardware features that both devices highlight seem more important to you? Do you really want "super powerful" hardware, or features that touch daily life like camera + battery + AI support? If you want, let's look at what iPhone and Pixel offer in these features.
Hardware Power: Does Everyone Need It?
Yes, Apple's A19 Bionic chip or Google's Tensor G5 offers very high processing power. This is a big advantage for "power users" who play games, do video editing, or try AR/VR applications. However, the average user uses their phone mostly for social media, taking photos, messaging, listening to music, and browsing the internet. For these tasks, "super powerful" hardware often becomes unnecessary. Hardware power is mostly seen as an investment for the future; that is, every user's dream is to use their phone without slowing down for 4-5 years.
The Star of Daily Use
The vast majority of people no longer carry a separate camera; smartphones have become the main photography device. Features like Google Pixel's 5x optical zoom make a difference on vacations, travels, and daily moments. Despite Apple's aesthetic hardware, staying behind Pixel on the camera side is an important shortcoming in terms of "daily life quality." Also, the camera experience on Google Pixel is not just "hardware + good lens"; it has become a process where AI reshapes the photo during and after shooting. AI actively works before, during, and after shooting, bringing photography to "professional editing software" level and making it easily accessible to everyone.
Battery Life: The Most Complained Point
No matter how powerful the hardware is, if battery life is weak, users become unhappy. On long days (especially travel, business meetings, student life), battery durability becomes much more critical than processor speed. Apple claims that iPhone 17 again increases usage time through optimization without increasing battery capacity. Google, however, added larger battery and fast charging features to Pixel.
AI Support: The Determinant of the Future
AI integration is more noticeable than hardware power because it directly changes user experience. Google is ahead here because Pixel devices bring AI into daily use. Pixel, which offers live conversation summarization, smart writing suggestions, and proactive assistant features in non-photo and video use, is far ahead of Apple in this regard.
Phone Transformation Time Is Coming
It's time for the phones in our hands to transform. Artificial intelligence will make this transformation happen. The transformation from just phone calls and short messages to today also tells us about what comes next. I especially think our interaction with phones will move beyond a touchscreen. OpenAI developing new hardware under Jony Ive's leadership and Meta's successful wearable devices tell us this. Do you think elegance or functionality will win? I'm waiting for your comments.
See you in the next article.