Apple experienced minimal iPhone growth in 2024 despite a significant rebound in the global smartphone market, according to new data published by IDC. Worldwide smartphone shipments increased 6.2% to reach 1.24 billion units, but iPhone shipments grew by just 0.4% during the same period.
The tepid performance underlines Apple's challenges in key markets like China, where domestic rivals are gaining ground through aggressive pricing and technological innovation. Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi and Huawei are investing heavily in hardware and software development as well as custom processor designs, with Huawei recently launching its new Mate 70 phone featuring its own home-grown chips.
Elsewhere, Android device makers collectively drove the market's recovery, achieving 7.6% growth mostly through strong performance in emerging markets across Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. These manufacturers appear to have succeeded by offering more affordable devices, with an average selling price of $295 compared to Apple's $1,000-plus premium iPhone positioning.
Despite the slower growth, Apple maintained its position as the industry's profit leader through its premium pricing strategy. According to IDC, the Apple's prospects may improve in 2025, with a forecast of 3.1% growth for iOS devices compared to 1.7% for Android smartphones.
Overall, the broader smartphone market's recovery was driven by pent-up demand for device upgrades in regions with lower smartphone penetration. However, IDC analysts noted that even heavily marketed features like generative AI have failed to significantly impact consumer demand or drive early upgrades, which doesn't bode well for the impact of Apple Intelligence on iPhone sales going into 2025.
Thursday January 9, 2025 5:45 am PST by Joe Rossignol
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.
iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of January 2025:
More aluminum: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models ...
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It was recently reported that new Apple TV and new HomePod mini models will launch this year, and the devices are expected to have one thing in common.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last month reported that the new Apple TV and the new HomePod mini will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip. Gurman said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, so that could end up being a key upgrade...
Tuesday January 7, 2025 11:12 am PST by Joe Rossignol
A new iPhone SE and an iPad 11 might be coming very soon.
In late December, a private account on X with a track record of leaking accurate iOS-related information said devices codenamed "V59" and "J481" will be released alongside iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has previously reported that "V59" is a new iPhone SE, and that "J481" is a new entry-level iPad.
iOS 15.3, iOS ...
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Apple in October 2024 overhauled its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display changes, and more. That's quite a lot of updates in one go, but if you think this means a further major refresh for the MacBook Pro is now several years away, think again.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said he expects only a small...
Monday January 6, 2025 10:07 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 18.2.1 and iPadOS 18.2.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems. iOS 18.2.1 and iPadOS 18.2.1 come almost a month after Apple released iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
According to Apple's release notes, iOS 18.2.1...
Thursday January 9, 2025 3:42 pm PST by Juli Clover
If you've been hearing a chiming sound from your AirPods Pro 2 case when the AirPods are charging, it's a feature that Apple added with the launch of Hearing Health last year.
In a support guide, Apple says that the AirPods Pro may play a sound every so often while in the case to ensure the microphones and speakers are working as intended. From Apple:
To help ensure that your AirPods...
Tuesday January 7, 2025 3:56 am PST by Tim Hardwick
LG has shown off a new Ultrafine 6K monitor at CES 2025. The 32-inch display is the first of its kind to support Thunderbolt 5, which Apple introduced late last year with the launch of new Mac mini and MacBook Pro models powered by M4 Pro chips.
Details are scant, but we do know that the LG UltraFine 6K monitor (model 32U990A) features a Nano IPS Black panel, delivering a wide color gamut...
Well, there wasn't a massive difference between iPhone 15 and 16 apart from a dedicated camera button which no one asked for. Or the delayed AI fiasco.
We need, as our American cousins say, something tangible that's worthy of upgrade. This will be unpopular opinion but there is nothing incitcing me to upgrade from my iPhone 13 Mini.
There really isn't much to do in terms of form factor, materials, or hardware performance at this late stage in smartphone development.
However, despite chips not advancing as fast as they used to, Apple could have reached record iPhone sales if they hadn't been as slow to announce and rollout AI as they have been:
Although the hype AI is getting is not fully warranted, and very disappointing on some level, the average consumer would want to buy a new iPhone if it came with features like an LLM Siri and a fully fledged suite of high quality generative AI features.
But Apple has just been too slow and the quality of its AI tools is not impressive.
I'm still convinced that Apple didn't add all the value to the $799 iPhone just to have it support AI in the near future, but much more to give buyers a reason to upgrade despite getting next to no AI while other brands are 2-3 years ahead of Apple.
I don't think that Apple AI, no matter how good or when it will be (or was) released, would have made any difference...AI is exciting to IT folks, and that's about it, and besides there are a dozen AI services that can be quickly installed on any iPhone, right now, from the app store. Phones are commodity items now, and people just aren't as interested in the new tech as they used to be. Their iPhone works, they don't think about it much, and don't care to replace them until they need to. There is zero pent-up demand (in the US).
Buying a new phone now is about as exciting as buying new tires. I'm happy to have them, and it's nice to be riding on a new set, but it's not exciting, not interesting, and not worth upgrading because a new design or feature is available.
I upgraded my 13 Pro to a 16 Pro, only because my employer paid for it. It has been the most boring, lateral upgrade of any tech in recent memory. A month later, it feels exactly the same as my 13 Pro did. The usb-c is nice, however.
Of course generative AI hasn't driven sales. Let's look at some facts...
People have been using ChatGPT on their iPhones since 2023.
Apple Intelligence is limited to the most recent model phones only.
Yet the people using those older phones know full well the phones are fully capable of ChatGPT. (Yes, yes, private on-device blah blah nobody cares about this distinction when there is such a huge functionality gap.)
But Apple Intelligence isn't even fully available, especially the one part that actually competes with the part of ChatGPT people actually use. And even then, it will fall back to ChatGPT.
And it won't even be available until next year, and ChatGPT is already miles ahead.
Also, their commercials for Apple Intelligence are perhaps the worst they have ever made.
Why would anyone expect AI to drive sales? In fact it's remarkable it even grew .6%
I enabled apple intelligence on my Mac and have yet to figure out a use for it. And I use Chatgpt multiple times per day so you would think I would have a use for something. Apple hasn't had an inspired phone design since the iPhone 4
