Can We Stop Pretending To Be Surprised About Positive Reviews On The iPhone 6S?

The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus officially launch this Friday, but the first round of reviews from top tech writers are already available. Majority of the reviews I’ve read have been overwhelmingly positive, and really insightful about the latest batch of new iPhones. I’m not necessarily surprised that the iPhone is getting stellar reviews, no….. not at all. What is surprising, is how many people are again surprised about the iPhone getting good reviews. This is legitimately the 9th iPhone, and they have been getting good if not great reviews since they were released.

So what’s really different about this one? Why would it feel as if people were waiting to hear bad reviews on the iPhone? I think it all boils down to one thing: People are starting to get bored with the iPhone winning ALL THE TIME. I know, I know, I’m not putting words or thoughts in your mind, but I think the iPhone has become so successful, and has such a good track record, that it’s starting to become boring. Year after year, we see Tim Cook and gang grace the stage and announce the newest iPhone and the technology it brings with it. Year after year, we’re told that this iPhone will be the greatest iPhone ever made, and year after year iPhone sales are better than the previous model.

Incremental updates and identical body styles aside, the iPhone is the phone to beat. Apple has implemented an insane, yet highly successful business strategy that allows them to virtually reinvent the wheel with every subsequent iPhone release. It’s no secret that Android phones will generally always be on the cutting edge of what’s new and what’s hot in technology. Google and company make sure to include technology and features in their phones that isn’t necessarily “stable”, but will be important for the advancement of smartphone technology. Google does this in order to make sure their phones stand out, and because their customer base has come to expect that from them. This is where Apple is so wildly successful, and why iPhones seem so much better each and every time. With that Android device, you may be getting that technology in its earliest phase, in its rawest form. With Apple they like to lie in wait, study the market and consumer response to specific technologies, and then they pounce.

This is why the first iPhone was released with a 2G radio, even though 3G had been widely available for a year and a half. It’s why despite NFC being in existence for a full three years prior, we only just started to get it on iOS devices with the introduction of the iPhone 6. Apple studies the market for a specific technology, how it’s being instituted in mobile phones. If it’s something that can be used without compromise, within Apple’s iOS infrastructure then they’ll either dispatch a team of developers to perfect that technology in-house, or simply drop a bus load of cash on the best team in silicon valley who happen to be working with said technology. This is what makes Apple so great, they don’t take risks, without the undeniable guarantee of a reward. But is this why people are essentially holding their breath for a “bad” iPhone?

There you have it, you heard it here first. Consumers are so bored with the iPhone being such a good phone that their essentially waiting for it to fail in hopes of seeing a new super phone step into its place. No, it won’t be the Galaxy S 6, it could be the LG G series, maybe a future Nexus device, who knows? One thing is for certain, there’s only so many times Apple can reinvent the wheel before they break it. If and when that happens, expect the backlash to be swift and severe, because consumers are waiting for it to happen.