SAN FRANCISCO — During a two-hour product showcase held Wednesday in one of rock music’s most storied venues, Apple executives signaled that the company was heading toward a wireless future, where devices would connect without cables. ADVERTISING SAN FRANCISCO —
SAN FRANCISCO — During a two-hour product showcase held Wednesday in one of rock music’s most storied venues, Apple executives signaled that the company was heading toward a wireless future, where devices would connect without cables.
A big step in that direction is the removal of a headphone jack from the latest version of the iPhone, called the iPhone 7.
What was lacking in Apple’s presentation, as has been the case for the Silicon Valley giant in recent years, was a new, can’t-miss hit like the original iPod. There was not even a dramatic change to an old classic, like the bigger iPhones it introduced in 2014.
But if you like tweaks to products you may already have, Apple had plenty to offer at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, a cavernous arena named for a famous music promoter that has hosted the likes of the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan. The iPhone 7 includes a better camera, and the bigger iPhone 7 Plus has a second high-end camera with a telephoto lens. It also has an improved home button that lets users perform different tasks by varying how hard they press it.
“Basically, Apple has shifted from one killer feature per upgrade, such as a larger screen, to a variety of compelling improvements that will appeal to a range of buyers,” said Frank Gillett, an analyst at Forrester Research.
For more than a decade, Apple has experienced explosive revenue and earnings growth thanks to new hit products, including the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. That streak stopped with the release of the Apple Watch last year, though executives maintain that sales have exceeded expectations.
Apple’s stock price is just about where it was a year ago, and this year the company has posted two consecutive quarters of declining revenue. For the first time, iPhone revenue also dipped, as the global market for smartphones began to shrink and consumers began replacing their smartphones less frequently. Executives expect sales to fall again this quarter.
But there are probably plenty more dollars to be wrung from Apple’s existing products. This update to the iPhone has been a cause for excitement — and controversy — among Apple fans.
Removing the port for headphones from the iPhone means they now connect only wirelessly or through a charging port. The redesign also encourages users to upgrade to Apple’s new wireless earbuds, AirPods, which cost $160.
While the updates to the iPhone were incremental, Apple executives hinted that the iPhone changes were part of a companywide effort to wirelessly connect everything inside a home. Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, explained how his company’s technology could be the central way to control all sorts of home wireless devices.
“This is Apple’s way of saying that someday the smartphone experience will be wireless,” said Tim Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies.
But will it be enough to reignite iPhone sales? “Not by itself,” he said. “But this along with the other tech upgrades like cameras and processors should drive high interest for those needing to upgrade, as well as draw interest by new customers too.”
Talk about a wireless future had people already looking toward big changes that could be in store for next year, the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, and beyond. Bajarin, for example, expects Apple to introduce wireless charging to the iPhone in the near future. Should wireless connections become a bigger part of Apple’s future, it is not a leap to imagine closer integration between the company’s various devices and its software meant for cars, called CarPlay.
This is not the first time Apple has risked angering customers by moving away from a traditional design. Its desktop computers used 3 1/2-inch disk, rather than the standard 5 1/4-inch floppy disk; and more recently it eliminated the CD drive and several ports from its laptops. Some customers considered those changes shocking, even downright hostile acts. They got over it.
“Apple has a history of doing what it wants and making people believe that it’s the best idea ever,” said Julie A. Ask, an analyst at Forrester Research. “The company has an affluent customer base that has in the past paid to upgrade because it cares about the quality of the experience.”
Other cosmetic changes were made to the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, which look much like their predecessors and will have starting prices of $650and $770. The phones will come in new colors, including a shiny jet black and matte black, in addition to the existing options of silver, gold and rose gold.
Apple also unveiled an updated version of the Apple Watch that includes GPS tracking, which would make it more appealing to runners. It has a faster operating system that lets apps work more quickly and could make performing some tasks easier on the watch than on an iPhone. The Apple Watch Series 2 starts at $370. And the original Apple Watch, rebranded Apple Watch Series 1, starts at $270.
The company emphasized that the Apple Watch was a useful tool for monitoring health, one of the few functions that users have embraced, and announced a partnership with Nike. It also made the new version water-resistant and added tracking for swimmers.
© 2016 The New York Times Company
