Apple recently unveiled a series of new products, including the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, as well as the Apple Watch series 5 and the 10.2-inch iPad. It also announced the launch and pricing of Apple TV+, its original series offering, and Apple Arcade, its game subscription service. Compared to previous Apple press conferences, Apple reduced the lengthy presentations of its findings and omitted details about its new operating system, resulting in a more brisk and less cluttered presentation.
The successor to the iPhone XR, renamed iPhone 11
In terms of positioning, the iPhone 11 is essentially the successor to the iPhone XR. However, unlike the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, which immediately led to the withdrawal of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max from the market, Apple has retained the iPhone XR and continues to sell it alongside the iPhone 8 as an entry-level iPhone model.
As for the iPhone 11, it has obvious differences from the iPhone XR in terms of processor specifications and camera lens design. Therefore, Apple believes that the market still has a high degree of acceptance for the iPhone XR, so it continues to sell the iPhone XR in the market and serves as a mid-level specification option between the iPhone 11 and iPhone 8.
The main reason for adopting the name iPhone 11 is due to the sales performance of iPhone XR over the past year and its increasing market acceptance. Therefore, Apple obviously hopes to "upgrade" the original positioning of iPhone XR. Therefore, iPhone 11 is used as the sales model targeting the mainstream market this time, while the newly launched iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are targeted at more advanced usage needs.
iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max still maintain the difference that is easy to choose
Compared to last year's iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, Apple's iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max this year differ primarily in screen size and battery capacity. Other design elements, including the A13 Bionic processor and triple-lens camera module, largely utilize the same or similar specifications (memory and other features may differ slightly), ensuring a consistent user experience. The only decision is screen size.
Just as the iPhone 11 added an ultra-wide-angle lens, the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are also equipped with a 1200-megapixel, 120-degree ultra-wide-angle lens, which makes up for the shortcomings in wide-angle shooting in the past. It can also catch up with the ultra-wide-angle lens design that almost every Android phone is equipped with. In addition, the newly added night shooting function is naturally also expected to fight back against the increasingly enhanced camera shooting performance of Android phones.
Combined with the computing power of its own A13 Bionic processor, as well as numerous third-party apps and other resources, along with the first-ever triple-lens main camera and the enhanced 1200-megapixel video camera, Apple has clearly made up for the need for external lenses to assist with photography, which previously required iPhone models. This new phone can now meet the vast majority of users' photography needs, while also highlighting the camera performance of its own mobile phone products.
However, in order to ensure the quality of camera shooting, Apple obviously had to accommodate limitations such as lens size in the appearance design. Therefore, when the new phone inevitably attracted criticism for its aesthetics, the additional "Midnight Green" color scheme was introduced to increase attention and thereby shift the focus of criticism.
Apple Watch, a key product for Apple in the future
At the event, Apple spent some time explaining how it is collaborating with academic and medical institutions on research related to hearing, women's health, and heart rate, leveraging Apple Watch data. The company anticipates incorporating these findings into future services and products. Apple also included a video demonstrating how the Apple Watch's heart rate, fall detection, and emergency call features successfully assist users in real-world scenarios, highlighting its commitment to product design.
From its inception as a fashion accessory, the Apple Watch has evolved into a personal tool that tracks users' physical activity at all times and even provides insights into health conditions, such as heart rate. By collaborating with more academic and medical institutions, Apple anticipates expanding its reach beyond the consumer market into a key healthcare product, while retaining its appeal to consumers. As the Apple Watch continues to become a hot-selling smart wearable, it is expected to become a key product development project for Apple in the future.
Apple Arcade and Apple TV+
Apple Arcade and Apple TV+, announced at this year's spring conference, will unsurprisingly become Apple's key revenue sources in the future.
Among them, the service model of Apple Arcade is different from that of Google Stadia and Microsoft Project xCloud. The former is mainly used on Apple's product platform, which is slightly different from the situation where Google and Microsoft services are willing to open up to different platform devices.
However, based on the current revenue performance driven by the subscription model, Apple announced that it would use the Apple Arcade service in the form of a monthly paid subscription. This will not only increase its own profit sharing revenue, but will also indirectly reduce criticism that Mac devices lack games. Exclusive cooperation will also deepen the relationship between Apple and developers, thereby creating more revenue opportunities driven by game growth.
As for the Apple TV+ service, it attracts viewers through original audio-visual content. At the same time, Apple is expected to release the latest series content through monthly updates or phased updates. Not only will it increase user stickiness through exclusive series content, but it can also extend usage time by gradually updating content.
Both services are priced at $4.99. Perhaps in the future, Apple will also bundle all subscription services like other companies and provide them through combined subscriptions to attract more people to use Apple services, making Apple services a new and important source of revenue.
The rumored AR glasses device was not announced
It was originally thought that Apple would reveal the rumored AR glasses device at this conference, but apparently only fully revealed the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max and Apple Watch series 5, and confirmed the official launch time of Apple Arcade and Apple TV+, as well as the related billing plan. This may mean that Apple is not yet ready, or will not launch AR glasses devices as the market has said.
But at present, the application of augmented reality technology will indeed be a key development project for Apple, and it will continue to strengthen ARKit-related applications, allowing users to more easily experience the fun of augmented reality applications through mobile phones and tablets. It is expected that this will also bring Apple more revenue opportunities in the future.
On the other hand, Apple did not launch a Tile-like positioning accessory as rumored in the market. At the same time, whether the new iPhone will be equipped with ultra-wideband (UWB) technology was not further explained at the launch event. Whether it will be announced at a subsequent event cannot be confirmed at this time.
Related links:
- iOS 13 and watchOS 6 will be released on the same day as the iPhone 11 and other new phones are launched.
- Apple announces that the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York will reopen and launch services such as Apple Watch Studio
- Compare/What's the difference between Apple Watch series 5 and Apple Watch series 4?
- Compare/What is the difference between the iPhone 11 series, iPhone XS series, and iPhone XR?
- iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max debuted simultaneously, adding a new Night Green color and a triple-lens main camera design.
- A13 Bionic adds more AI applications, becoming the most powerful mobile processor
- The iPhone 11 follows the success of the iPhone XR, adding a dual-lens main camera and new colors.
- Apple Arcade, Apple's game subscription service, will launch globally on September 4.99th for $9 per month.
- Apple Watch series 5 gets new watch faces and new titanium and ceramic versions
- The 10.2-inch iPad was unveiled, becoming the seventh-generation entry-level iPad and replacing the existing 9.7-inch version.
- Apple TV+, Apple's streaming video service, will launch on November 11st, also at $1 per month.
