Waiting for the iPhone 8

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Jan 13, 3:34AM EST · Published Sep 14, 9:10AM EDT

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Waiting for the iPhone 8 — © courtesy of Apple Inc.

Reviews of Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) new products generally have been positive. Apparently, there is an early backlog of iPhone orders. As usual, people have lined up outside Apple stores to be among the first to own one. However, the overall reaction has been muted. A number of analysts say that for Apple to retake the global consumer electronics crown, it needs a smartphone that will push it light years ahead of the competition. That means much of the market anticipates the arrival of the iPhone 8.

The New York Times said the iPhone 7 was not perfect, but “keeps Apple’s promise.” MacWorld wrote:

The first batch of iPhone 7 and 7 Plus reviews are out after five days of hands-on time, and the early word is mostly positive. The camera in particular is a stand-out, and the two lenses on the 7 Plus produce results that easily stand up to the competition, the Samsung Galaxy S7.

As expected, dealing with the lack of a headphone jack was perplexing to some and outright irritating for others. But the impressive cameras on both iPhones, plus the improved battery life and water resistance, make them easier to use on the go.

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Some reviews said the iPhone 7 was a jump ahead. However, they were not in a large majority.

A Wall Street Journal report gave an important reason the iPhone 7 is not really worth it:

If you believe, like I do, that big software improvements matter more than incremental hardware changes, then keep that wallet closed when ogling the iPhone 7. With iOS 10, your older iPhone will feel new, but your headphone jack will stay put.

While the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 did not receive universal acclaim, they were described as products beyond what could be expected from the technology available when they were released.

Analysts expect that for the iPhone 7 to be a success, Apple will need to ship 70 million of them by the end of the year. There is no strong reason to believe that cannot happen. If it does, Apple’s falling top line may rise again.

As for the reviews, one way or another, and sales goals the same, virtually no one described the iPhone 7 with the levels of praise received by the earliest versions of the smartphone.

The iPhone 8 will need to be a breakthrough device for Apple to be considered the most innovative company in the world. What goes into such device? A camera so good that people will not need a real camera? Artificial intelligence that will tell people if they will get a cold? A flexible device so thin it can be folded or twisted like plastic wrap? It will need to be one or more of these, or something so advanced as to create incredible awe.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.