There is a meme that comes out when people are urged to watch a movie on the biggest screen . People then mock the images they view on the worst, least immersive devices possible, from iPods to Game Boys. It occurred to me during the iPhone 16 launch event that Apple said its new models have CPUs that can challenge “even high-end desktops” and “desktop-grade GPU architectures.” And it made me wonder if anyone actually plays AAA games on a 6 inch smartphone for a long time.
Look, we all know that’s just Apple flexing the power of its native silicon, given that even A-Series SOCs run almost as fast as a flagship Intel CPU. And we all know that if you try to run an iPhone with a load that you can put on the desktop, you will quickly burn it. (As a Muslim, Resident Evil Village caused (The iPhone 15 Pro will run “uncomfortably hot,” burning through 30 percent of battery life in an hour.) All that power is great for the tasks the iPhone needs to do, and only for short periods of time. Whether it’s audio and video processing or the odd burst of generative AI (when it comes), it’s clear that Apple is proud to be able to do it on the device.
But this emphasis raw power shows that the company doesn’t see what the iPhone is for and what its limitations are. Yes, I’m sure some people like to play Death Stranding on the bus to school or work. I’m sure there are some people who will try and use Notes to write term papers, and a filmmaker or two who will use an iPhone instead of a Red, but these may not be the mass voters of the general user base. .
It’s hard to see people using an iPhone to do serious work where you need a better user interface. iPhones are great for photography, social media, communication, casual gaming, but they can’t be an all-in-one replacement for a laptop or game console. Well, you can use them for these purposes, but I’m not sure about anyone should do.
Another telling example was a demo showing a man using it Voice Notes to record new vocals over a previously recorded backing track. It’s a great way to show off the iPhone 16’s ability to isolate sound even when the sources are very close together. Apple added this feature to Voice Notes because it saw user feedback that it became a valuable tool in a musician’s arsenal. But it’s also a personal goal, given that Apple’s own multi-track recording platform, Garageband, has been (deservedly) neglected and unloved for the past decade.
All in all, I suspect Apple has run out of worlds to conquer in the former, with its core strengths in combining hardware and software. After all, as great as the new iPhone is, improvements have been building up for a long time. As fancy and high-tech as the new camera shutter button is, it’s not like an add-on special button to hold groundbreaking – I had one of these in my hands . I’m also curious how many iPhone users actually use these extra camera features (like adjusting the focal length or shooting in RAW) when shooting clips for TikTok. If, like me, you don’t really appreciate Apple Intelligence, or if you just think these features aren’t really appealing, there’s little reason to rush out and upgrade.
It also doesn’t help that I’m reminded of Steve Jobs’ 2010 words describing PCs as “trucks” that will be eclipsed as people move to “machines” consisting of phones and tablets. Trucks were go-anywhere, do-anything tools that were vital a century or more ago, but gradually fell out of favor as people began using more specific tools to suit their needs. However, the iPhone 16 launch event felt like Apple showing everyone that it managed to cram a Big Rig engine into a Porsche.
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