The late Steve Jobs stood on a stage to unveil a device that combined a mobile phone and a music player on Jan. 9, 2007.
“An iPod. A phone. And an internet communicator,” Jobs said. “Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.”
On Tuesday, Sept. 12 at the Steve Jobs Theater, Apple launched the much-anticipated iPhone X that Chief Executive Tim Cook called “the biggest leap forward since the original iPhone.”
Tamikah Boyer ’20, who has an iPhone 7 plus, would not “pay that much” for the $999 iPhone X.
“[The iPhone X] is the same thing as the iPhone 7, but with a different shape and no home button,” Boyer said. “I am not going out of my way to buy it.”
The iPhone X has wireless charging, an enhanced camera, augmented reality features, hardware for facial recognition replacing Touch ID and no home button.
Users instead swipe up from the bottom of the device to wake it up.
Without the home button “nothing has ever been simpler or more natural,” Phil Schiller, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, said.
Back in May, Apple reported a sudden fall in iPhone sales for the second quarter. Apple sold 50.76 million iPhones in its second quarter, while the year before 51.19 million iPhones were sold in the second quarter.
Apple attributed the drop in sales to customers delaying making purchases in anticipation of the iPhone’s 10th anniversary.
Despite the high price tag and a drop in recent iPhone sales, many analysts, like the Macquarie Group, are bullish after Apple’s event on Tuesday.
“We remain positive on Apple and expect strong demand for the new iPhone X, the new Apple Watch and associated Services revenue,” Macquarie said to Business Insider.
Victoria Cao ’19, who does not have an iPhone, does not have plans to change phones after Tuesday’s announcement.
“I’m really happy with my current phone and the Android operating system,” Cao said. “iPhones aren’t worth the price and often times push improvements that aren’t necessary.”
In addition to unveiling the iPhone X, Apple also introduced the iPhone 8, a new generation of the Apple Watch and an upgraded Apple TV.
At the iPhone 8’s $699 cost, some might consider purchasing the iPhone 8 over the iPhone X. However, Sarah Maybruck ’18 values the iPhone X’s upgrades over its $999 cost.
“[The iPhone X] is the phone with the most advances,” Maybruck said.
The iPhone 8, along with the new Apple Watch, became available on Sept. 22. According to Apple, the iPhone X will be available on Nov. 11.