iphone-family-late-2016In a "Confirm or Deny" feature by The New York Times this week, PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel "confirmed" that "the age of Apple is over" based on his belief that smartphones will lack further innovation.

The age of Apple is over.

Confirm. We know what a smartphone looks like and does. It’s not the fault of Tim Cook, but it’s not an area where there will be any more innovation.

While the iPhone has become a familiar product as it turns ten, which perhaps makes it less exciting to some, to say smartphones are not an area where there will be any more innovation will certainly fuel a debate. And, of course, while the iPhone is Apple's most profitable product, it's not its only.

Thiel's comment can be argued one way or the other, but it does raise the question of what Apple's next "one more thing" will be after annual iPhone sales declined for the first time amid an uncharacteristically down year for Apple—perhaps something in the augmented reality or electric vehicle spaces? Will this be the year Apple pushes deeper into artificial intelligence with Siri and an Echo-like device?

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has routinely teased about what's around the corner. Last year, he said Apple has "great innovation in the pipeline," including "things you can't live without that you just don't know you need today." Likewise, he told employees last month that Apple has "great desktops in our roadmap," and earlier this week he said "the best is yet to come" for iPhone.

Top Rated Comments

spiderman0616 Avatar
108 months ago
Here's the thing though:

a) You could have made this statement about any of Apple's products throughout history. "We know what a computer looks like and does." See what I did there?

b) Peter Thiel is a complete bozo.
Score: 69 Votes (Like | Disagree)
William Gates Avatar
108 months ago
>It's not the fault of Tim Cook, but it's not an area where there will be any more innovation.


You'll never need more than 640 kB of RAM.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bstv69 Avatar
108 months ago
Yea it's Jon Ive's fault. His unchecked hardon for thinness has destroyed the company. Maybe if they got a couple engineers to actually keep him in check and remind him no one gives a **** about thickness at this point they wouldn't be having these issues. Phone and computer thickness hit its plateau a long time ago people would rather their devices be more powerful and last longer than 1mm thinner. When the rest of the company's exec and shareholders realize this, then maybe apple can rebound
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NufSaid Avatar
108 months ago
Jobs said it when he said that you are fortunate to work on one ground breaking product in your lifetime. The issue becomes what is the next revolution for Apple. It likely isn't going to be a revolution...they can try.

But WHY do they have to change an industry with a new product every year?
Can't they just make great products that tech blogs can gripe about (but secretly love) so that they can get clicks?

Apple makes all the profits in the smartphone industry (who cares if you sell phones if you don't make money at it). They dominate in customer satisfaction and the quality is second to none. Let them make products with incremental improvements that work and enjoy life...have fun creating and using these products and stop demanding a ground breaking revolution every year.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adamjackson Avatar
108 months ago
Yes, we know what a modern smartphone looks like and how it works.

Saying there is no more innovation in the space is ludicrous. Here are a few areas where there is a ton of innovation.


* Battery Technology (weeks on a charge, organic cells)
* Camera Tech (DoF, Color, resolution, white noise)
* VR / AR
* Digital Assistants (We're not even close to samantha from her yet)
* iPhone as the only computer you need. just keep a keyboard, mouse & monitor at your office & home and move the iPhone between them
* CPU speeds
* RAM miniaturization
* 1 terabytes on a smart phone
* Multi-users on phones or tablets
* integrated fingerprint sensors on the LCD scree itself
* Completely eliminating the wallet
* Eliminating the need for house & car keys
* embedding a lot of the functions in our own bodies (the watch is step 1 to having computer abilities connected to our skin)
* Wireless charging or the complete elimination of needing a lightning port at all
* Wireless cell data that is just as fast as your home cable connection


Over the next 15 years, a lot of this will come true and Apple is spending billions to make sure the iPhone is that. Apple may fail but to say the age of smartphone is behind us from a supposed technology person is laughable.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mad Mac Maniac Avatar
108 months ago
Oh boy, I'm glad someone was able to "confirm" for us what has been true for the past 8 years.... APPLE IS DOOMED!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
top stories 2025 04 19

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, CarPlay Bug Fix, and More

Saturday April 19, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
This week saw rumor updates on the iPhone 17 Pro and next-generation Vision Pro, while a minor iOS 18.4.1 update delivered not just security fixes but also a fix for some CarPlay issues. We also looked ahead at what else is in Apple's pipeline for the rest of 2025 and even the 20th-anniversary iPhone coming in 2027, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more! iPhone 17 ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...