Is Apple’s iPhone still the star it once was?

Job’s legacy lives on
 

And then Steve Jobs passed away, the magic seemed to die a little only to be revived when iPhone 5 came along. By then, the androids were doing a lot of talking, creating a lot of buzz than they did back when the iPhone was the single star on the horizon. Yet, too many people still seemed to hold on to their iPhones and the magic somehow stayed on. Or so we all like to think. 
 

This week, as Tim Cook, who had always been the dependable number two of Steve Jobs and now is at the helm of Apple, unveiled the new iPhone5C and the iPhone5S, there was little that he could share with the public that they already did not know. 
 

Apple’s direction seemed to emerge in the two iPhones unveiled. They hope the appeal will stay on, as it always had, with the fervour reaching a crescendo as the launch of the new iPhones took place. Apple fans, still loyal, still eager never mind the milestones Android phones have made in the meantime, followed every thread online eagerly and scanned every message board, waiting for the excitement of yet another Apple launch to unfold.

Granted, once you become an Apple user, you are destined to stay tuned. Whether it is the podcasts on iPhone, the music on the iPod, the clarity of the Mac or the flexibility of the iPad, each Apple product is designed to make the user form this long-lasting relationship with it. The clear Zen lines, the thoughtful design and placement of software that Steve Jobs so passionately felt about, give Apple the edge in the niche it had created for itself. Even though Jobs is long gone, his legacy seems to live on in the legend of Apple. 
 

Wearing off appeal? 
 

In Apple’s Post-Steve Jobs era, Tim Cook seems to give the company a sense of direction that would perhaps set it in motion to embrace the market without Jobs around to add the charismatic element. No-nonsense, pragmatic and dependable – those were the words used to best describe Tim Cook – perhaps have helped in bringing the company into sync with the exploding markets out there. There have been changes – for the first time, Apple has unveiled two iPhones instead of one. The designing has also changed, allowing the company to rein in more customers as Apple is hoping to.
 

Apple has never been about affordability. That in a way has been a part of its appeal. But it seems Cook & Co has acknowledged global realities of affordability and accessibility. Elements such as incorporating colour into a product best known for its monochrome allure, indicates a change of line in thinking at Apple.
 

Clearly, Apple understands that there are other would-be customers besides the usual Apple bandwagon, who prefer the incorporation of such elements – elements that hopefully would attract some of the currently Android customers. But it seems Apple has steered clear of creating hope of a cheaper iPhone. Apple products have never ridden the cheap wagon – and the iPhone 5C as the critics are quick to point out, is not exactly budget priced either.
 

But is the appeal wearing off? Especially when you know that once you get through the superficial, if it may be called so, changes, the core of the new iPhone C is more or less the same as before. Inside the 5C is an A6 chip; although the front facing camera has been raised to HD standard for FaceTime calls, the rear camera is the same eight megapixel version that was on the iPhone 5. 
 

Gold standard smartphone
 

Apple’s Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller called the new iPhone 5S the ‘gold standard in smartphones’, citing the 64 bit A7 chip, the cutting-edge technology used for the first time in a smartphone, the iPhone 5S. The new chip gives the iPhone 5S a power boost with twice the CPU and graphics performance architecture, enabling it to run apps and games faster than before.
 

“We all want great performance in our devices. It’s hard to remember the old days when performance meant big processing cards and graphic cards, power supplies and fans, that defined computing performance,” Schiller said. “But thank God we’ve moved beyond that. Now customers want great performance that you can fit in the palm of your hand.”
 

Performance is not the only reason Apple has so many fans throughout the globe – it is performance that combines with understanding of a product that almost has cult status. It is a tough slot to arrive in but Steve Jobs managed to do it, combining so much of his personality into the brand Apple. It was actually a system that he created – once you logged in, you became hooked on the various devices that connected your Apple story from one to the other. 
 

In the post-Jobs era, as Apple sets its sails in a sea of highly advanced Android devices that offer limitless opportunities to their users, Tim Cook has his hands full in determining just how he should set his course beyond here and now. Can the legacy live on?
 

(Nayomini Weerasooriya, a senior journalist, writer and a PR professional, can be contacted at [email protected])