Apple has a problem, but it's nothing a little hard work can't solve.
Sales of the venerable iPhone are down year over year. That's unprecedented. Several factors conspired to cause this, many of them beyond Apple's control. It doesn't help that the last major redesign came 18 months ago and everyone expects the iPhone 7 in September.
Granted, Apple packed the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus with spec bumps and some truly innovative leaps like 3D Touch. But it didn't quite shake the feeling that the iPhone is just another commodity. As we said in our iPhone 6s review, the best smartphones are as vital as a pair of comfortable shoes---and every bit as unexciting. This doesn't mark the end of innovation, though. There's plenty of things Apple (and others) can do to snap you back to attention. Some of them already are happening.
The Internet is awash in rumors about what's coming in the iPhone 7, but we're not going to talk about them. We're also going to avoid anything too outlandish. Instead, we've got three suggestions for the iPhones, each of which would represent a big step forward. All of the technologies below already exist, and are already in use elsewhere---including other Apple products. Together they'd make the iPhone significantly better. More importantly, they'd make it exciting again.
No one does mobile LCD tech better than Apple. Just look at the latest iPad Pro. But being the best at LCD is like being the best at duckpin bowling---impressive, but not terribly important. OLED is what's next in smartphones (and very expensive televisions). Samsung holds the advantage here, having used the tech in its Galaxy phones for several years.
"OLEDs now have tremendous advantages in being much thinner, much lighter, with a much smaller bezel offering a near rimless design, better viewing angle performance, much faster response times, higher peak brightness, an always-on display mode, curved and bendable screens, and much better power efficiency," says Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies.
That's a pretty comprehensive list. The key difference with OLED technology, and the reason it offers so many advantages over LCD, is the sub-pixels are individually powered, meaning they can illuminate as needed. An LCD display requires running the entire backlight to power even a single sub-pixel. For users, an OLED is better in almost every way.
They're also more future-proof. Apple hasn't expressed much outward interest in virtual reality so far---though the company has made a number of acquisitions in that area---but if it wants to deliver the best mobile VR experience someday, OLED will be key. "For the displays in VR players, OLEDs offer very fast response times and perfect blacks with infinite contrast ratios that improve the 3D imaging," says Soneira. Combined with the thinness, lightness, and image sharpness that give advantages right now, OLED is the future.
Apple chose OLED for the Apple Watch, so it's probably headed to the iPhone at some point. Apple declined to comment for this story, but price may be one reason it hasn't embraced the superior technology. OLEDs cost more to produce, which may be an issue for a company that enjoys high margins on its mobile hardware.
That said, Hon Hai Precision, which owns Foxconn, the company that builds many of Apple's devices, recently bought Sharp, which manufactures OLED displays. That, combined with various rumors and the obvious urgency of keeping the iPhone from falling behind the competition, make an OLED iPhone seem highly likely, if not absolutely certain.
Last year's MacBook was an odd duck in many ways, but its most important innovation was hidden inside: a radical battery design. The battery features a "terraced battery cell," which is just as complicated as it sounds. Essentially, it frees batteries from being flat slabs, allowing engineers to build stackable, adaptable packs.
As we've previously noted, one of the best things about this battery breakthrough is there's no reason it should be limited to laptops. In fact, the smaller the device, the more important it is to squeeze the battery into every available space.
You already know this, but the one thing smartphone consumers consistently ask for is better battery life. A recent IDC study found that this is the leading purchase-driver and the biggest opportunity for improving consumer satisfaction with a given device. Everyone wants it, and no one has enough of it.
The iPhone is no slouch, particularly the 6S Plus, but anything Apple can do to squeeze more life from its batteries only helps. A terraced battery cell approach accomplishes this, with the added benefit of allowing all kinds of cool form factors. "It's an industrial design thing," says Kyle Wiens, co-founder and CEO of iFixIt (and occasional WIRED columnist). "You kind of design everything, and fit the battery into the space that's left."
There's no reason to expect iPhones to look like anything other than rectangles any time soon. But if Apple ever did want to shake things up, terraced batteries would allow it to do so. Until then, a boost in battery life is exciting enough.
You may not be seeing many USB-C cables yet, but just wait. You will. As the successor to the ubiquitous USB standard that connects all of your peripherals to all of your devices, USB-C offers a truly all-in-one solution. It can transfer data, quickly. And it can charge your stuff, quickly.
What's more, it's reversible. It doesn't care which way you plug it in. Repeat. It doesn't care which way you plug it in. (Granted, neither does Apple's Lightning connector). And it's here, now, in smartphones like the Nexus 5X and laptops like the Chromebook Pixel and the MacBook. That's right, Apple is on the USB-C train. In fact, it was among the first to board.
It won't be long before USB-C finds its way into most Android phones. It's too useful not to. And Apple customers would benefit not only from its speed-based perks, but also from being part of an ecosystem where everything works with everything else, all of the time. (Which may be a reason it won't happen.)
Apple's accessory program is three-comma figure in the company's business, one it strictly controls. Embracing an industry standard like USB-C would mean leaving that money on the table. The MacBook's USB-C charging port may be the exception, not the rule; it exists mostly to replace Apple's MagSafe charger, so it's not undercutting the third-party add-on business.
So perhaps it's too much to ask for USB-C on the iPhone anytime soon. Still, an Apple that made room for full hardware interoperability? That would turn the most heads of all.
