Chat with the chief: iThink I’ll pass

As we approach fall, we become fully submerged in apple season: both that of the fruit and the technology company.

Like clockwork, Apple releases a new iPhone every autumn. The company recently announced its newest device, the iPhone XS, and naturally, people are going wild. Soon, people will swarm to pick up the newest iPhone, which contains a new set of quirky features to make it more enjoyable for consumers.

Many Apple users will shell out a sizeable amount of money to get their hands on the iPhone XS as soon as possible.

I, for one, find this ridiculous. Although the new iPhone may look pretty and offer some enticing new apps for its users to enjoy, it really works just the same as any other iPhone released during the past few years. The everyday features (calling, texting and others) don’t change much from year to year, so the aspects of the iPhone XS that will be most commonly used will likely function the same as the iPhone X or other recent iPhones.

I have an iPhone myself: the iPhone 7, to be exact. I’ve had this phone for about a year and a half, and for the most part it works perfectly well. Despite having dropped it no fewer than 100 times, there’s only a couple minor bugs and scratches on the screen that I can look past. As long as it can still send and receive messages, can access the internet, has access to a camera and functioning audio, I don’t care about the pointless little gimmicks obtained by the newest device. It has the few things I use every day, and that’s what matters most to me.

If you absolutely must get the new iPhone right away, by all means, go for it. However, I personally find it pretty pointless to drop a ton of money on an iPhone only slightly different from your previous device. Sure, it offers a couple nice features like wireless charging and a sleek design, but the core of the phone—the communication aspects the consumer will use every day—is basically the same as the previous version.

If you really want it that badly, wait a year until the next one is released and the prices for this year’s version will drop.

I think the new iPhone is nice, but I’ll pass on it for now. You can catch me sending messages on my beat-up iPhone 7, and I’m sure they’ll send just the same.