Apple’s new phone release brings up criticism

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A collection of Apple products over the years.

Brandon Trinh, Health & Tech Editor

Every new year typically brings multiple innovations, inventions, and gadgets. Most notably, this year, people are ramping up for the release of Apple’s newest product, the iPhone 12 and its many interactions, including the iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 mini, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

   Apple, a tech and hardware company founded by two college dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976, is now one of the biggest tech companies in the world. Apple is known for their phones, computers, and many other assortments of technology.

    Senior Ben Lovelace is an Apple supporter who uses Apple products on a daily basis.

    “I love Apple products. They are sleek and high quality devices. They can be on the pricier side, but I don’t have a problem with that because I just finance it by paying it off monthly,” Lovelace said.

    Meghan Long, another Apple supporter has similar views.

   “I like Apple products because of the design: when you see a new iPhone or any Apple products you just want to play around with it and fidget with it,” Long said.

    Even children love the design of Apple products.

    Hien Nyguen, father of two, comments on the design and simplicity of Apple products.

   “I love Apple products because they are so easy to use. The kids especially love playing on their iPads when we’re out or at home. It’s like a toy and a TV combined in one. It would’ve been great growing up with one of these,” Nyguen said.

   Apple doesn’t just have great designs that sell their products, the stores themselves are made to sell products.

    “Apple does this in a genius way: they lay out all their phones on display, which just makes you want to play with [the products], and when you do, you get attached to the phone or laptop making you want to buy it even more,” Long said.

  While many people are in support of Apple and their popular products, some people believe that their products are a bit overhyped.    

Senior Alexander Stevens is an Apple critic and does not own any Apple products.

    “As a gamer I need high enough specs to play certain games and Apple products just don’t have enough power to run the games I want, which is why I like using Windows computers because they usually have stronger processing power for the games I like,” Stevens said.

    Stevens, along with many others, believes Apple’s pricing is rather expensive.

    “I don’t have an Apple computer because of how expensive the price to performance is, I like to be able to play games like Minecraft, Google quick draw, Valorant, and Solitaire, which you can’t do with Apple computers,” Stevens said. 

     Kevin Xio, a software developer for Nationwide Insurance comments on the matter.

    “Apple has been the leading phone innovation company for many years now and I feel that people have just latched onto that and is why people still buy their products. Although they are falling off now compared to other competitors, I feel like they hit a ceiling,” Xio said. 

    Stevens has similar opinions to Xio.

    “Although Apple’s newer phones are not as innovative, Apple is an innovator. The AirPods for an example were the only product at the time that had completely wireless earphones. Apple fit as much technology as possible into such a small container, compared to their competitors who still have chunky cases,” Stevens said.

   While some people may believe that Apple products are overpriced, one thing most people can get behind is the sleek nature of design employed by Apple.

    “One of the bigger reasons I believe that people like Apple products as much as they do is because of the design of their products, the design is usually really sleek and cool to look at,” Stevens said.

   “Apple products are great,” Lovelace said. I love the accessories, they are so cool. The AirPods and the Apple Watch are just some examples of their amazing accessories. The AirPods Pro are especially a great product in their own right due to active noise cancellation features.” 

   Apple has a long history of being a leading innovator in the tech industry, but recently some consumers of the products feel as they have slowed down and relied on other means to sell their products, including sleek looking devices and the ease of use of the software that they have created. Overall most users and nonusers would agree Apple may not be as innovative as they once were, but this does not mean their products are bad.

iPhone sales from 2007-2018

Source: Statista