Reasons Why Apple’s iPhone 11 Is Not That Innovative

Some people may think that Apple’s iPhone 11 series isn’t really that innovative despite its new features. Some might even say that Apple has lost its ability to innovate like it did when Steve Jobs still sat at the helm and introduced groundbreaking tech innovations such as the Mac computer, the iPod and the iPhone. A report says that there’s a reason behind that.

What could those reasons be? Here’s a quick look at some of the possible reasons why Apple’s new iPhone 11 lineup – and the company itself – doesn’t seem to be innovative, according to CNBC.

It started the smartphone revolution but was overtaken by rivals

Apple is known for having created the modern-day smartphone. While other companies were busy working on clamshells and keypad phones, the Jobs-led tech giant was busy working on introducing the next big thing in mobile communication and computing: the iPhone.

Since the iPhone’s introduction in 2007, however, other tech companies have worked on their respective smartphone offerings. Some of these companies have actually overtaken Apple’s iPhone in a variety of ways.

Motorola, for example, equipped its 2011 Atrix 4G smartphone with a fingerprint sensor two years before Apple could release Touch ID on 2013’s iPhone 5S. On the other hand, Samsung, also in 2011, introduced the “phablet” category with the wide-screened Galaxy Note – something that Apple did with the iPhone 6 Plus three years later.

Apple might have released a “crazy powerful” Night Mode feature on this year’s iPhone 11 series, but it wasn’t the first to do it. Rival company Google also released its own Night Sight feature on last year’s Pixel 3.

Innovation hurts

People who think Apple isn’t “innovative” anymore need to understand that innovation is risky. Some companies who try to be the “first” to release some sort of new tech know that there’s a lot of risks involved with innovation.

Take the foldable smartphone category, for example. Analysts believe Apple isn’t releasing any foldable device yet because it is still studying the matter and will likely release its own offering after a year or so. Why is this? It’s because it doesn’t want to release a half-baked product.

Apple rival Samsung tried to release the Galaxy Fold earlier this year, and ended up recalling every review unit it sent to tech reviewers. Sure, it’s nice to be the “first” to release a new kind of device once in a while, but it’s better to release an excellent device that doesn’t have any flaws even if it’s not the first to be released.

That said, Apple depends on safe, familiar technologies to please its customers. The iPhone is one of Apple’s most important products, and it can’t ruin the device’s reputation for the sake of introducing “new” (and untested) tech that just might end up failing.