#Headline Creation Challenge#
Although it is only February, domestic mobile phone manufacturers have not yet released all the new phones in the first half of the year, but for Apple, its foundry Foxconn is already preparing for the trial production of the iPhone 15 series. According to industry insiders, in the middle and late February of each year, Apple will submit a trial production order for new mobile phone products to the foundry and determine the production plan for this year. The factory needs to prepare materials, build production lines and recruit workers according to this plan. After the trial production of the product, the factory also needs to collect data from various links, adjust and optimize the production line in time to ensure that the product can pass the verification, and prepare for the subsequent mass production.
Therefore, although the iPhone 15 series will not be released until September and will not be available until October, the production work will be on track from now on, which makes the iPhone 15 more likely to be leaked and the information will be more reliable . Just recently, overseas media have successively exposed the detailed size data of the four models of the iPhone 15 series. Compared with the previous generation, the new model has been slightly adjusted, and the thickness has increased to varying degrees. Moreover, all models are equipped with Smart Island and Type-C interface, which should be the biggest change of the new machine.
(Source: 9to5mac)
The design of the iPhone 15 can be said to be completely within everyone’s expectations, and it did not bring any surprises. Apple continues to squeeze toothpaste like this, are consumers really willing to pay?
The C-mount of the whole series is upgraded, but the iPhone 15 may not be satisfactory
According to reports, the foreign media 9to5mac obtained the 3D CAD file of the iPhone 15 series from a special channel, which shows the appearance of the new phone and key size information. 9to5mac drew a rendering based on this, so that we can clearly understand the length of the new phone. what kind.
The first is the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus. The two standard versions abandoned Liu Haiping this time and adopted the same smart island design as the Pro model. Among them, the three-dimensional size of the iPhone 15 is 147.8*71.9*8mm, which is 1.1mm, 0.4mm, and 0.2mm larger than the iPhone 14’s length, width, and height, and the screen size has also increased to 6.2 inches, slightly larger than the previous generation’s 6.1 Some. However, it is not clear what the resolution and refresh rate of this screen are. The high probability is still the same as before, and there is no chance to use 120Hz.
(Source: 9to5mac)
The three-dimensional size of the iPhone 15 Plus is 160.87*77.76*7.81mm, which is almost unchanged from the iPhone 14 Plus. However, both standard versions adopt a new body design with slightly rounded edges, not as vertical and tough as the previous generations, and the grip should be improved. The two new phones are still designed with rear dual cameras, but the camera is more prominent than the previous generation, and it is speculated that the image performance has been slightly improved. The bottom of the fuselage was upgraded to a Type-C interface, and Apple finally couldn’t bear the pressure and chose to compromise.
The size adjustment of the two Pro models is relatively consistent, with a slight reduction in height and width, but a significant increase in the thickness of the body and the camera bump. From the data point of view, the height and width of the iPhone 14 Pro have been reduced by 0.9mm and 0.85mm, and the thickness has increased by 0.25mm; the height and width of the 14 Pro Max have been reduced by 0.84mm and 0.87mm, and the thickness has increased by 0.4mm. The changes are still very obvious of. It may be to optimize the feel after the body becomes thicker. The new phone will adopt a curved edge design to make the transition more smooth. We have no way of knowing how the actual feel will be.
(Source: AppleTrack)
In addition, the new machine will also use titanium alloy materials to replace the previous stainless steel materials, the weight of the fuselage is expected to be reduced, and the drop resistance and durability will also be enhanced. The bottom of the fuselage has also been upgraded from the Lightning interface to the Type-C interface. It is said that Apple has also developed an IC chip to encrypt the interface. Although the interface is common, the protocol is still Apple’s private encryption protocol, which means that you may not be able to use other brands of data cables to charge or transfer data to the iPhone, and you still need to purchase Apple-certified products. On the surface, it is unified, but it is not completely unified. It seems that Apple is unwilling to give up the huge profits of accessories.
(Source: AppleTrack)
In addition to the above, the iPhone 15 series is a regular hardware upgrade. The standard version is expected to use last year’s A16 chip, and squeeze a little more on the basis of squeezing toothpaste. The Pro model will be equipped with a brand-new A17 chip, which should be based on TSMC’s latest 3nm process technology. The theoretical performance and power consumption performance will be improved, but whether it will overturn is not guaranteed. At the same time, the screens of the two new phones have also been upgraded. The peak brightness can reach 2500nit, and it is expected to be equipped with 8GB of memory as standard. The overall performance is quite powerful.
Since the iPhone 12 series returned to the vertical border, this design has been used for three generations, and consumers have long been tired of seeing it. However, the iPhone 15 still has no improvement, which is a bit disappointing compared with the one-year-old Android manufacturers. As for the gimmicky function of Smart Island, its marketing effect must not be as good as the previous generation, and the novelty has long been outdated. As for the Type-C interface with the highest user expectations, Apple has indeed given it, but if it is really encrypted as rumored, it will really feel like playing consumers like monkeys, and it looks extremely ugly.
(Source: Twitter blogger @UniverseIce)
When consumers lose expectations for the iPhone 15 series, the fate of the new phone seems to have been doomed, and the sales myth of the iPhone 12/13 series may be difficult to surpass.
Both revenue and profit are declining, how long can Apple’s toothpaste last?
At the beginning of this month, Apple announced the Q1 fiscal quarter (September-December 2022) report for the 2023 fiscal year. The data showed that the total revenue for this quarter was 117.154 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 5.48%. This is the first quarterly revenue since 2019. The decline in revenue has set the largest quarterly revenue decline in the past six years. The quarterly net profit plummeted by 13% to only US$29.998 billion, far below analysts’ expectations, causing Apple’s stock to fall by 4% that day.
In the face of both revenue and profit declines, Cook explained that this was caused by factors such as insufficient supply of iPhone 14 Pro/Max and the excessive loss of Foxconn employees caused by the epidemic. Revenue should be up year-on-year. But what is the actual situation? The revenue of the iPhone business was US$65.775 billion, down 8% from US$71.628 billion in the same period last year.
(Source: Apple official)
The supply problem of the iPhone 14 series does exist. After the new machine was released last year, the delivery cycle of the two Pro models once exceeded 40 days. It was not until the beginning of this year that the spot supply was initially restored. Bloomberg also pointed out in a report that due to factors such as Foxconn’s supply disruption, the production of iPhone 14 Pro/Max in 2022 will be nearly 6 million units less than expected. The failure to keep up with production capacity is indeed one of the reasons for the decline in Apple’s revenue, but this is not the whole reason. Apple’s troubles are far more than that.
After the release of the iPhone 14 series, the two Pro models that really attracted attention were the two Pro models, but few people paid attention to the standard version. The iPhone 14 Plus’s initial price cut of nearly 1,000 yuan was still not bought. A while ago, media reported that the entire iPhone 14 series began to cut prices, and Apple’s officially authorized offline stores also adjusted prices, with a drop of between 600 and 800 yuan, which has never happened before. It can be seen from these signals that the iPhone 14 series cannot be sold anymore, and Apple is also starting to worry.
(Source: Apple official)
There are two main reasons why the iPhone is no longer popular: first, consumers are no longer willing to pay for Apple’s toothpaste squeeze; second, domestic Android phones are becoming more powerful, and Apple’s competitive advantage is getting smaller and smaller.
Everyone can see that Apple squeezes toothpaste. It doesn’t matter if a model has been used for many years. Now I don’t even bother to upgrade the core configuration. Both iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 are equipped with A15 chips. The biggest difference is that the former has an extra graphics processor. The actual experience There is not much difference, you call this an upgrade? Let’s talk about the A16 chip. The paper data shows that the CPU has increased by 15%, and the GPU has increased by 25%, but the overall performance has increased by less than 20%. The A15 isn’t much different per se.
This behavior of constantly squeezing toothpaste has also made Apple gradually lose its leading position in performance. The GPU performance of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen2 has surpassed that of A16. The next step may be to achieve CPU performance catch-up. Apple’s own poor performance not only makes the product uncompetitive, but also disappoints many consumers. The failure of the iPhone 14 series may be just the beginning. If Apple still maintains this attitude, it will be a matter of time before it falls to the altar.
(Source: Xiaomi official)
While Apple is doing badly, domestic mobile phone manufacturers are trying their best to catch up. The emergence of Snapdragon 8 Gen2 helps make up for the shortcomings of the product in terms of performance, and makes everyone more confident in launching a charge towards high-end. The continuous emergence of LPDDR5X memory, UFS4.0 flash memory, 1-inch super outsole sensor, 200W super fast charging and other technologies has fully improved the product power of Android phones. Not only that, with the continuous update and iteration of the Android system, it is no worse than iOS in terms of fluency and security. Richer functions and a more open ecosystem have become the most powerful weapons to crush iOS.
Apple’s opponents are constantly getting stronger. Only Apple chooses to stop and start to sell badly. The decline in revenue and profits is also an inevitable result. I am afraid that the sales data of the iPhone 15 series will be surprising. Of course, we don’t know what kind of medicine is sold in the apple gourd. It’s hard to be sure whether it’s really exhausted, or it’s accumulating big moves. But if Apple doesn’t come up with something sincere, then its ending seems to be predictable.
