Apple is one of the most popular and recognized smartphone vendors in the world and is showing no signs of slowing down. Last year, the company’s revenue came in at approximately $45 billion with a net income of $8.2 billion, a large portion of which resulted from iPhone sales. Due to Apple’s huge and dedicated following, it is unsurprising that their supporters wanted to get their hands on the brand-new iPhone X, a product said to be Apple’s most innovative thus far. It was not until the iPhone was set to be available for pre-order that Apple’s eager customers realized there was a serious problem with the model.
The iPhone has a notch, or a useless black space, that covers a considerable amount of the screen viewing area. To many, this problem is minor, until iPhone users attempt to watch a video or play a game from the App store and find that their view of the video or the image is partly blocked by this black space. When scrolling through a website in portrait mode, the search bar completely disappears, making this counterproductive feature a deal-breaker for even Apple’s most devout followers.
The popular disappointment is that after the release of the iPhone 7 and 7+, Apple promised that the entirety of the face of the next phone would consist only of a screen. Needless to say, this is a feature that was already adopted by its smartphone competitor Samsung years ago. Apple’s carefully thought-out design and display slogan is: “It’s all screen.” This is a blatant misrepresentation of what the actual model represents. Unfortunately, the phone’s front-facing camera is the cause for the notch, as it is currently impossible to develop a feature to move the camera to another location.
Not only is this Apple’s most expensive phone to ever hit the market, its price is comparable to that of the MacBook Pro
Apple claims that the notch is a distinct feature of the brand, put in place of the home button that was recently removed from the model. However, Apple never received any complaints that the home button prohibited screen accessibility when it was an existing iPhone feature. Due to the popular status of the brand, they have chosen not to address complaints. They plan to move ahead with the launch, and the product is set to hit the shelves on November 3rd.
Adding on to smartphone lovers’ disappointment about the company’s neglect to a truthful iPhone ad campaign, Apple well surpassed previous phone prices with the iPhone X. With a little navigation, the top right corner of the Apple website reveals the price of the iPhone X in big, bold lettering: “starting at $1319.” Not only is this Apple’s most expensive phone to ever hit the market, its price is comparable to that of the MacBook Pro.
Unhappy customers feel as though having a similar look to the iPhone 7 would have been more desirable than having to forfeit a chunk of their screen. The multibillion-dollar company has also been silent on how this design aspect will affect its highly active developer community. App designers that require the entire screen to be accessible will be forced to either sacrifice this screen space or attempt to reconstruct their App.
With the negative feedback received after the new iPhone’s electronic release, the company’s design team has a lot of work to do
Even though the new look of the iPhone X is not as well-received as previous models, the phone is ultimately Apple’s guinea pig. The company is implementing hardware and software that has never been seen in the tech world before. Complications are bound to emerge in such a ground-breaking endeavour. In purchasing a device with features that have never been seen before, you are taking a chance on something that may be imperfect; the question is whether the community around this device will accept the new design once they have the chance to use the phone. On the bright side for Apple, no matter how flawed the new design may be, it is inevitable that even some consumers and critics who harshly critiqued the phone will be in stores on November 3rd to get their hands on it.
With the negative feedback received after the new iPhone’s electronic release, the company’s design team has a lot of work to do. If they want to wow their customers with the iPhone XI, they will have to continue their legacy of design perfection and technological innovation.
The views and statements expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Bull & Bear.
Great article Kristen xx