iPhones 17 and the Sugar Water Trap(stratechery.com)
stratechery.com
iPhones 17 and the Sugar Water Trap
https://stratechery.com/2025/iphones-17-and-the-sugar-water-trap/
4 comments
Why does every new phone have to be a completely revolutionary game-changer? Can’t you just live your life with the people you care about? Pretty sure all modern phones are fine there.
>Can’t you just live your life with the people you care about?
Obviously not, hence we need tech as a substitute.
With that sorted out, the new iPhone it was a moderate update outside the interests of certain niches (ProRes RAW is hardly a household item).
Obviously not, hence we need tech as a substitute.
With that sorted out, the new iPhone it was a moderate update outside the interests of certain niches (ProRes RAW is hardly a household item).
But isn't that fine? For someone with a 3-4 year old phone, the update might be more worthwhile.
Someone might have another phone (Android) and want to switch. Someone might have started making more money and want a nicer device. Etc.
Dislike of undue marketing hype aside, I don't really see the big deal about year over year upgrades not blowing the previous model away.
Sure, I've got complaints about consumerism, waste, etc, in general, but I feel like those are broader issues that might not be entirely orthogonal, but are still not the same issue.
Someone might have another phone (Android) and want to switch. Someone might have started making more money and want a nicer device. Etc.
Dislike of undue marketing hype aside, I don't really see the big deal about year over year upgrades not blowing the previous model away.
Sure, I've got complaints about consumerism, waste, etc, in general, but I feel like those are broader issues that might not be entirely orthogonal, but are still not the same issue.
Sure, let's...
>There is a completely new body material and design
Which for most people is irrelevant. They care for functionality, not whether they device got it's nth different material or a slight look adjustment (any smartphone is still a rectangle slab of glass with cameras, not much to change anyway).
>There is a new faster chip, with GPUs actually designed for AI workloads (a reminder that Apple’s neural engine was designed for much more basic machine learning algorithms, not LLMs)
Still not interesting. AI on iOS is nowhere near that usefull atm.
>There is a 50% increase in RAM
Substantive. But who hit limits with the previous 8GB? A tiny handful of ultra-power users. So his point still stands.
>The front camera sensor has 2x the pixels, and is square
So what? A slightly better selfie and videocalls.
>The telephoto lense has 4x the pixels, allowing for 8x hardware zoom
And how often did a regular iPhone user say "I could really use an 8x hardware zoom"?
>There is a much larger battery, thanks to the Pro borrowing the Air’s trick of bundling all of the electronics in a larger yet more aesthetically pleasing plateau There is much better cooling, allowing for better sustained performance There is faster charging
Those 3 are good. The second not that interesting though - regular users didn't have any use for the 16 or even 15 level performance, it's not like the new "better sustained performance" will change their life.
So, basically, to the average smartphone user (not smartphone photography/video afficionado, and no power user running ultra demanding apps or games on their iPhone) it's basically: "slightly better cameras, if you're into that sort of thing, faster charging, and longer battery life".