Tomorrow morning Apple will officially announce the iPhone 5S and cheap, colourful iPhone 5C. The event will be watched with serious expectations as they announce new hardware and confirm the boldest revision to iOS since launch is now complete.
Thanks to a continually broken NDA, developers have already leaked what iOS7 contains and the improvements made throughout the beta releases. It’s visually very different, it’s functionally pretty similar with some nice polish but isn’t an overhaul that’ll change your life.
The company continues to face criticisms for not innovating and if the hardware leaks of a champagne gold colour is all they have new, then the cries of a slipping Apple will increase in volume. Since Steve Jobs passed away, Apple have struggled to wow the world with a new revolution. Even with speculation of a home button that doubles as a finger print reader / identity authorization, tomorrow is unlikely the day where that changes.
According to the IDC, vendors shipped a total of 236.4 million smartphones in the second quarter of 2013, up 51.3% from the 156.2 million units shipped in 2Q12. Second quarter shipments grew 9.3% when compared to the 216.3 million units shipped in the first quarter of this year.
The problem for Apple is that their position continues to slip as an Android and Samsung dominated world leaves them behind. I remember the early nights where Jobs surprised us all with amazing new features and functionality that changed people’s lives, it just seems like a very long time since that occurred.
I seriously hope they have been able to avoid leaks of something truly awesome, truly inspiring and game changing. That can’t be to flatten icons or painting it gold, it has to challenge the way we think about the entire mobile space if they are to win back market and mind share.
In Q2, Apple shipped 31.2 Million iOS units, not bad, until you realise 187.4 Million Android powered devices shipped during the same time. The difference is really cemented when we look at growth, Apple increased by 20%, but Android had 73.5% increase year-on-year, while even Windows Phone had 77.6% growth. It seems the foot has slipped off the accelerator pedal in Cupertino.
Sure, if Apple do announce a smartwatch or the long awaited, much discussed TV, then the collective internet will loose its ever-loving mind and freakout. If not, they run the risk of even the hardware fanboys looking elsewhere for innovation. Something as simple as NFC and wireless charging has got the cold shoulder from Apple, while being added to almost every new flagship from competitors.
Nowhereelse.fr has just posted this render (from a “very reliable” source) that claims to show the iPhone 5S.
Whatever happens, we’ll have coverage of everything Apple announce tomorrow morning.
