Apple Bets on the Future: iPhone 16 a Transition, the Slim iPhone 17 Air a "Lifesaver"?

Apple Bets on the Future: iPhone 16 a Transition, the Slim iPhone 17 Air a "Lifesaver"?With less than a month until Apple's annual fall product launch event, the iPhone, as the star of each year's event, naturally becomes the focus of attention. However, Mark Gurman, Bloomberg's technology reporter, has poured cold water on Apple fans, stating that the iPhone 16 series might offer only minor upgrades as Apple has already shifted its focus to the iPhone 17 series

Apple Bets on the Future: iPhone 16 a Transition, the Slim iPhone 17 Air a "Lifesaver"?

With less than a month until Apple's annual fall product launch event, the iPhone, as the star of each year's event, naturally becomes the focus of attention. However, Mark Gurman, Bloomberg's technology reporter, has poured cold water on Apple fans, stating that the iPhone 16 series might offer only minor upgrades as Apple has already shifted its focus to the iPhone 17 series.

To support this claim, Mark Gurman has also preemptively revealed the iPhone 17 series' new product plans, including the debut of a thinner and more powerful iPhone Air. This news has sparked widespread industry attention. Is the iPhone 16 series merely a transitional offering from Apple? Why is Apple so focused on the iPhone 17 Air?

iPhone 17 Air: Extreme Thinness, Reclaiming Classic Design?

In initial leaks, the thin iPhone 17 was named the iPhone 17 Slim, but Mark Gurman later confirmed it as the iPhone 17 Air. Both "Slim" and "Air" indicate a focus on thinness for this newly positioned iPhone.

The concept of extreme thinness in smartphones can be traced back to a decade ago. In 2013, Huawei launched the Ascend P6, with a thickness of just 6.18 mm, breaking the thinness record for flagship phones at the time. In 2014, Gionee and Vivo followed suit with the ELIFES 5.1 and X5Max smartphones, measuring a mere 5.1 mm and 4.75 mm, respectively. The latter still holds the record for the thinnest smartphone.

Extreme thinness once dominated the smartphone market, similar to today's focus on imaging flagship phones. However, as smartphone performance, cooling, battery life, and imaging demands continued to rise, users pursuit of thinness gradually took a backseat. Surprisingly, a decade later, Apple is bringing thinness back.

Mark Gurman states that the iPhone 17 Air's design will be as impressive as the first appearance of the MacBook Air. Apple fans will remember the shocking moment when Steve Jobs pulled the A4-sized MacBook Air from a manila envelope at the 2008 launch event. The MacBook Air, despite its extreme thinness, delivered outstanding performance.

Beyond its ultra-thin design, the iPhone 17 Air needs to impress consumers with other features. According to supply chain sources, the iPhone 17 Air will be the first iPhone flagship to feature Apple's self-developed communication baseband, highlighting its position in the product lineup. In terms of core performance, the iPhone 17 Air will be equipped with the A19 chip, aligning with other models in the same generation.

The Trade-off Between Thinness and Performance: Challenges and Opportunities

Limited by the laws of physics, extreme thinness necessitates sacrificing certain hardware configurations, such as battery capacity and cooling, which are concerns for the iPhone 17 Air. Tech media wccftech reveals that the iPhone 17 Air was designed with a different market goal from the outset, prioritizing design over performance.

In a smartphone market saturated with hardware competition, Apple's ambition to create a product relying solely on design to capture consumers' attention requires significant courage. This strategy also reflects the 2024 trend in the Android phone market, where brands like Huawei, OPPO, Honor, and Xiaomi emphasize the "beauty is justice" philosophy, embracing trendy and fashionable designs.

iPhone 16: A Transitional Offering, Difficulty Concealing Its Decline

Compared to the "out-of-the-box" iPhone 17 Air, the iPhone 16 series appears rather ordinary. Pre-release exposure of the iPhone 16 series has received considerably less attention than in previous years. Even the leaked real-world model photos only managed to briefly trend on Weibo, failing to reach the top ten on the trending list.

The iPhone 14 series had the "Dynamic Island," the iPhone 15 series boasted "titanium," both terms that once dominated trending lists, while the iPhone 16 series seemingly lacks any unique highlight upgrades.

Foxconn recently released recruitment information for overtime work, mentioning hourly wages for temporary workers increased to 26, with a 90-day attendance bonus of 7,500. Three months of overtime work could potentially earn up to 21,500, making it quite enticing. This indicates that the iPhone 16 series has entered the production phase.

Typically, the basic information for iPhones entering the production phase is already confirmed, and more "explosive" information is usually disclosed by supply chains and related individuals during this stage. However, the lack of discussion this year could suggest that the iPhone 16 series might truly "have nothing to brag about."

In terms of hardware, the biggest upgrade for the iPhone 16 series is likely to be a standard 8GB of RAM (Android phones collectively laugh) and a slight increase in size for the Pro/Max models. The standard model's rear camera Deco arrangement will change from diagonal to vertical (Apple is a master of permutations and combinations). Such minor upgrades are unlikely to attract consumers to upgrade.

Apple Intelligent Delayed in China, Lackluster Software Upgrades

Apple Intelligent, once considered Apple's "trump card," is now likely to be absent from the fall launch event alongside the iPhone 16 series. The public beta will be available in the US and select countries/regions as early as the end of October, while other areas remain uncertain. Chinese Apple fans will likely have to wait until 2024 to experience Apple Intelligent.

Tim Cook responded to the question of "When will Apple Intelligent be available in China" during the second-quarter earnings call, only stating that progress is being made through active communication, without providing a timeline.

It's worth noting that the AI features of the already released iOS 18 are somewhat underwhelming, leading to a decline in public confidence towards Apple Intelligent.

Overall, the iPhone 16 series lacks appeal in both hardware and software. For Apple, this generation of iPhones is more of a strategic defense, merely maintaining updates to stimulate replacement among users with outdated models.

Poor Market Performance: iPhone 15 Series Shows Clear Decline

From a market performance perspective, the iPhone 15 series has shown a clear decline. Recent data released by research firm CIRP shows that the iPhone 15 series accounts for only 66% of total iPhone sales in the US, down from 79% for the previous generation, marking a decline of about 13%.

In Mainland China, Apple achieved decent sales during the first half of 2024 by relying on price reductions during the Chinese New Year and the 618 shopping festival. However, relying on "price cuts" for success is not viewed positively by the market.

Specifically, the iPhone 15 Plus continues to perform poorly, accounting for only 8%, a drop from the 12% sales share of the iPhone 14 Plus last year.

Overall, the iPhone 16 series is expected to continue its downward trend, but the standard model and Pro/Max models have noticeable upgrade highlights, making the decline more manageable. The Plus model remains the most vulnerable, offering neither price nor configuration advantages. A reasonable prediction is that the iPhone 16 series will break even faster after launch than its predecessor, and Apple will increase the intensity of promotions this year to achieve its sales goal of 90 million units.

Apple Urgently Needs Freshness to Revitalize the Market: Is the iPhone 17 Air the Only Hope?

Looking back at the past two generations of iPhones, while Apple has made design changes, such as the "Dynamic Island" on the iPhone 14 Pro and the "titanium" on the iPhone 15 Pro, these updates have been superficial and uninspiring, leading to aesthetic fatigue. Tech media TechSpot points out that the iPhone 14 offers little improvement over its predecessor, especially for users already owning an iPhone 12 or 13, making an upgrade to the iPhone 14 not worthwhile. The iPhone 15 series has received similar reviews.

Based on leaked real-world models of the iPhone 16 series, aside from some changes to the rear and color selection of the standard model, the overall design remains almost identical to previous generations, even going back two generations.

However, Apple can't completely redesign the iPhone overnight. On the one hand, the "Dynamic Island" as a core interactive element has taken shape and forms a "small ecosystem" requiring developer compatibility and support. It will also be the cornerstone of iOS dynamic interaction in the coming years. On the other hand, Apple's camera module needs to accommodate VisionPro's spatial video capabilities, limiting further changes in the Deco design.

The best solution is to redesign a more stylish iPhone, inheriting classic iPhone aesthetics while introducing new elements to provide a sense of freshness. This is the mission of the iPhone 17 Air.

However, relying solely on design to entice consumers to buy might be a tough sell. Lei Technology has previously reported on several "extreme brands" focused on design, such as "light strip company" Nothing, which has created design-centric phones with limited mainstream appeal.

Overall, Apple currently gives consumers the impression of being overly formulaic, with insufficient product freshness. However, the