Sometimes I wonder how many people in the world, at this very moment, are staring at an iPhone screen. Hundreds of millions, probably. But according to Apple, this daily ritual is numbered. In a moment of surprising candor, Eddy Cue (right arm of Tim Cook and Apple Services Manager) he just admitted that the future of the iPhone may be shorter than we think.
“You may not need an iPhone in 10 years,” he said, adding that artificial intelligence is creating opportunities for entirely new experiences. I think he is absolutely right.
The announced decline of an icon
Cue's statement is a bolt from the blue. Not so much for the content (those who work in technology know that no device is eternal) but for the source. When one of Apple's top executives publicly admits that the product that generates half of the company's revenue could disappear, the issue becomes serious. Probably even Steve Jobs he would have strangled himself with his iconic black turtleneck upon hearing these words.
But this is not an isolated case. From Apple, increasingly clear signals are coming of a change of strategy. As they say in jargon: when the wind changes, some build walls, others windmills. And Apple is building windmills that will erase the future of the iPhone.
Tim Cook has never made a secret of his obsession with augmented reality. According to inside sources, it is “the only thing he is really focusing his time on from a product development standpoint.” An obsession that would push him to want to beat Meta in the race for smart glasses. Will he succeed?
What happens in the “post-iPhone” future?
The recipe for replacing the most iconic device of the century is complex. Apple is working on two fronts: a new VisionPro lighter and cheaper (the first, I take the responsibility of saying it, He has failed), and real AR glasses. The goal? To create wearable devices that project digital content into the real world, with a less invasive experience than the iPhone.
It's not just Apple that thinks beyond the smartphone. Jony Ive, the former design guru who shaped the aesthetics of the iPhone, has long been working with OpenAI to a mysterious device. Rumors speak of a “screenless phone” (but not a phone) based entirely on artificial intelligence, described as “a less socially all-encompassing computing experience.” Maybe.
An inevitable evolution
The prospect of a future without the iPhone seems absurd today, and will surely appall some die-hard fanboys. But let's remember that Apple has already “killed” its most profitable products intentionally in the past. Cue cited the iPod as an example, calling the decision to kill it when the iPhone made it redundant “the best thing we've done.”
Because in the end, this is precisely the characteristic that distinguishes Apple: the ability to look beyond the current successes. Other companies desperately cling to their flagship products, in Cupertino they are already planning their extinction.
For us consumers, the prospect of abandoning the iPhone for AR glasses or AI devices is pure madness right now. But who, in 2007, could he have imagined how profoundly smartphones would transform our lives?
