Apple's blatant cash grab

On Sept. 16, Apple announced the release of the newest iPhone, the iPhone 7. The iPhone 7 should, by no means, be bought by anyone of stable mind. The most advertised updates for the new iPhone include water resistant technology, clearer picture on the camera, and that it is the most colorful and brightest to date. Also when looking at the design, it is clear the body of the phone is shinier. These alone should not justify getting a new phone. The water resistance and clearer camera would be helpful and exciting for semi-serious photographers. The issue is that those kind of people would most likely already have a Samsung or a phone like that, because those cameras’ capabilities have surpassed Apple’s for years.

Apple always tries to entice shoppers with newer functions and looks, for those who would not buy a phone based on camera capabilities. With the iPhone 6 it was the touch home button and the introduction of the color rose gold. For the iPhone 7 there is no equivalent to the touch home button, just a new look. They are updates that do not actually improve the phone, just make it prettier, which imply how little Apple thinks of its consumers. It is even more obvious with the iPhone 7, where their update for those who are not concerned with cameras is to just make it more colorful, brighter, and shiner. Do Tim Cook and his team think of the common shoppers as children? As Apple tries to attract them with the promise of shine and colors, the company is trying to appeal to those who they rely on to buy their products, and that is not even the worst of it; these types of updates have been made before. These simple updates were thrown on the market because Apple has not put anything out in a while, and this update is different as they try to force innovation for money.

You may have noticed that the biggest change coming with the iPhone 7 has yet to be mentioned in this article. The iPhone 7 will have no headphone jack and will rely on Bluetooth, putting all previous headphones out of use when someone buys this product. This was inevitable, as the world has been moving towards Bluetooth for years, but Apple has jumped the gun on it because it will bring them more money. Bluetooth is not strong enough for Apple to do this, as Bluetooth can be spotty and connecting new devices to any Bluetooth port is still an annoying process. There are two options Apple gives you if you want to listen to music with earbuds. You can either buy their new earbuds with light connector which plugs in to the charging jack, which means replacing your old earbuds and creates a problem when someone wants to charge their phone and listen to music. Or, you can buy the new air pods, which are Bluetooth earbuds and run you about $160 per pair. You can assume which has been advertised much more. The air pods are small and require charging, meaning they are made of three parts, each of which can be easily lost and each time you lose a piece you no longer have the luxury of going to a local drug store to get a new pair for $10. You have to shell out another $160 to Apple. This is an “innovation” that no one has asked for, and it is put in for two purposes: to make money and to distract the consumer from the fact that the iPhone 7 is not worth it’s price.

If you are someone who is loyal to Apple and is thinking “I’m going to get the iPhone 7 anyway, despite this really well written and intriguing article,” I implore you not to; you should at least wait until next year. Next year will be 2017, also known as the 10-year anniversary of the original iPhone, and you know Apple will be bringing out the big guns to celebrate that fact. Now, Bluetooth will probably still be a major factor in next year’s model, but at least by then they will have fixed a few bugs that will definitely be in the iPhone 7. So wait for something better, because the iPhone 7 was released to put something on the market between now and then. If you feel the need to upgrade, at least wait a year, to send the message that we don’t want filler phones and that consumers will wait for the better product. The iPhone 7 is a filler phone for them, so don’t buy it; show Apple and Tim Cook that you and fellow consumers are smarter than they think.