Has Apple Gone Sour?

News about the new IPhone 5 can hardly be ignored. What’s interesting this time around is that I feel let down - I was expecting more. The question is why? Are we holding Apple to a higher standard or are they truly not producing the innovative technology that we have grown to expect.

The IPhone 5C pleasantly surprises us with the new use of colours like green, yellow, blue and red.  This is like a breath of fresh air compared to the previous versions, which were available only in black or white. But this isn’t something new.  Historically Apple is known for “living in colour.” I find it odd that it’s taken so long to introduce this option for the IPhone. Ironically, Apple was producing coloured computers before their competitors but in recent years.  I’m struggling to understand if this was a tactic to keep consumers on their toes or just simply poor branding. Just adding colour to a phone is not enough to make me get ride of the current phone I have. It’s not “New” enough.

Now when it comes to the IPhone 5S, I can’t discount the obvious new finger scanning technology. This is what we all expect from Apple. Big, new, flashy innovation that makes us “need” the product. As consumers, we are willing to spend big money in order to have the latest technology as long as it’s innovative.  Well, innovative it is!

However even this does not feel like enough. Compared to updates like the front facing camera, FaceTime or icloud - which where revolutionary to what we expect from our smartphones – it feels lack luster. How is it that we have become so accustom to advance technology that even major break throes seem like a small bump in the road? 

The real question here is are we holding Apple to a higher standard than other smartphone creators? If another brand had come out with this idea would we be more excited or is it just truly not enough to keep us interested? Innovation in its definition is "the application of new solutions that meet new requirements, inarticulate needs, or existing market needs" and we as consumers need to decided if Apple is meeting this expectation.

My gut tells me that we do expect more from Apple.  It is fair to assume that with every new product Apple creates they are also creating a piece of art. But does that make it innovative? Does that make it new or fresh enough to rationalize spending the money buying a new phone? I believe if Apple went back to a time where the IPhone upgrades were less often, but more revolutionary, we would not be experiencing this feeling of disappointment.