iPhone 15: The Last Launch Event?
Alex MacGregor
September 17, 2023
Tim Apple
So, last week was iPhone week again. I won’t go into the details of the phone itself, I think we all know that every year, it’s just that little bit better (nevertheless, I’ll be keeping my 13 Pro Max!)
Nothing to see here then. But famed Apple writer John Gruber made a good point in his coverage:
Again, though, this isn’t how the tech industry is “supposed” to work. All things come to an end, and eventually that truism will apply to the iPhone, but the fact is that for over a decade Apple’s September iPhone events have been the Super Bowls of technology. Iterative phone designs from the same company, year after year after year. No other event compares. You can add the next 10 events together — including Apple’s — and you won’t get the cumulative electricity of the iPhone event. This, despite the fact that the iPhone events are predictable. There’s never been anything like it, quite possibly never will be again, and a lot of tech enthusiasts resent it.
In 2023, there’s few product launch events if any that get as much attention the annual iPhone event. But is it the last of it’s kind? Perhaps in an era where brands are ‘dropping’ products as opposed to announcing them, maybe it is.
Fashion has always driven a lot of culture and increasingly, business. And these brands are using short form video and social to get their stuff to market. Clearly, the appetite for long, multi-hour launches is not what it was.
Save for Apple and Tesla, that’s about it, we may well be looking at the nadir of launch events. What’s your take? Launch events dead or in a lull?