In many ways, I probably already knew the answer to the question, ‘Are iPhones now overrated?‘ would be a yes, and a resounding one at that. But things ended up being not quite as cut and dry as I first thought.
I posed the question to TechRadar readers in a simple poll with the options being yes, no, and on the fence, with a little bit of color added in for fun. And from the results, 47% of respondents replied in the affirmative, 17% reckon iPhones aren’t actually overrated, and a good 36% are undecided yet recognize iPhones are iterative smartphones that do ‘just work’.
There definitely does still seem to be a healthy appetite for new Apple phones, though some of this could be down to being committed – or stuck in – the iPhone ecosystem.
“So, I remember queuing at 5:30am on the morning of the iPhone 3G outside of my local O2 store, excited at the newness of the design vs my Nokia’s. I diligently upgraded each year for the 4 then 5, then 6 Plus and then… I got kinda bored…” said a commenter called Andrew.
“They seemed to stall a little but, with the X, I was back! I loved that phone and eventually upgraded to the 13 Pro Max, but then got bored again. Last year, I sold that phone and moved to a Galaxy [Z] Fold 5. It’s brilliant and innovative. The apps are the same basically [but] it feels more interesting.
“I think Apple is a good example of a lazy brand who knows loyalty will keep them in profit while they can ignore the need to innovate.”
That journey is a similar to my own, having started with an iPhone 4S then moving to Android, and then finally back to iPhone in 2021 when I felt Apple had caught up with Android on the hardware front. Equally, I’m now a little bored with the recent iPhones, despite very much enjoying how well they work; it does feel like there’s a lack of something fresh and special to Apple’s recent smartphone portfolio.
It also feels like the upgrades Apple tends to make a song and dance about, such as an upgraded camera system, don’t always impress in real-world use. Sure, the photos might be crisper and more dynamic than before, but the differences are arguably negligible unless you really go looking for them.
I’m not alone in thinking along these lines as iPhone 17 user and commenter ‘Altema22’ noted: “What’s disappointing is all the hype with the camera, only to find that no one in the house can readily pick out which photos are from the 17, and which are from a $400 HTC U24 Pro.”
In essence, then, while I don’t think people will stop buying Apple phones, it does seem like we’re heading towards a point where iPhones no longer really excite people; I’ve posited that we may have hit peak iPhone after September’s launch.
All this is arguably to be expected as other phones have got rather iterative too, but I feel Apple still has the capacity to excite and shake things up in the phones arena and the tech world as a whole. And where Apple goes, others tend to follow.
So I’m hoping future iPhones can bring back some of the excitement of yesteryears, including making phone cameras exciting again.
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