iGroan 7

With the advent of the new school year and the gradual fade of summer, the time has come again for the technological tradition of the new iPhone model. Excited Apple fans and rumor mills alike have been sparked by wild speculation, mass hype culture, and the brand’s very own cult of personality. The true question still remains, what will the new phone offer the consumer, and why should they be excited? As it turns out, the launch of the iPhone 7 may be one of the most overlooked in the history of the product.

The first concern of many is that the new phone may be severely lacking in significant features. From what tech watchers have gathered so far, the phone will boast a slimmer, waterproof frame, but will lack a headphone jack. Though many argue that in this day and age, Bluetooth connections have rendered wires obsolete, this would be the first time that Apple has denied the simple privilege of choice to the consumer. Even if no one ends up using wired earphones with the phone, choice is never a bad thing, and this arbitrary decision is beginning to reflect poorly on the product as a whole. Further lack of innovation is another looming issue. How much slimmer does the public want their phones? Hopefully not enough that the device begins to BEND in consumers’ pockets. These features strongly indicate Apple’s lazy attitude to their products overall. The company seems to have become too dependent on the customer’s goodwill of buying every new Apple product that hits the shelves, regardless of price or innovations.

Perhaps Apple’s most pressing concern involving the iPhone 7, is the overall lack of enthusiasm. In years past, the aforementioned hype culture has practically rioted over its excitement towards a new iPhone. Fanboys of Apple would be rushing to promote the iPhone’s new model as the latest best technology ever. The iPhone 7, on the other hand, has suffered the most terrible fate a new product can experience: public apathy. CNBC’s Jim Cramer, market analyst and the host of Mad Money, even goes as far as saying, “This is the least amount of hype… We haven’t seen it yet, but, boy, do we ever not want it". Though partially the fault of Apple in its failure to release new information about the phone, the main problem lies, again, with the iPhone 7’s suspected lack of innovation. The phone’s lack of notable features, as well as its supposed removal of one, has left Apple’s fans and its company in limbo. Only time will tell whether the product succeeds, but one thing is for sure: at this point, no one seems to care.