Apple Is Still Living Off The Reputation Steve Jobs Built, 'Without Any Meaningful Innovation'

Pavel Durov
Founder of VKontakte and Telegram messenger

Every year, Apple unveils and releases new iPhone versions. And in 2020, it's the iPhone 12 series. The flagship of the series, is the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

As the top of the line for the fourteenth generation of the iPhone, the two Pro phones boasts 5G support, MagSafe wireless charging and accessory system, Apple A14 Bionic chip, high-dynamic-range video Dolby Vision 4K video recording, and most notably, three rear cameras with LiDAR.

Through the series, Apple retains the stainless steel design found on its predecessor. But this time, the front glass is protected with a Ceramic Shield cover glass that has nano-ceramic crystals infused right into it to improve durability.

According to Apple, Ceramic Shield offers four times better drop protection than the glass on the iPhone 11 models.

While Apple's iPhone 12 Pro phones are indeed an improvement to the predecessor, not everyone is liking them.

One of those people, is Pavel Durov, the founder of the social network VKontakte and Telegram messenger.

Pavel Durov
Pavel Durov when visiting Indonesia in 2017.

In a post on his Telegram channel, Durov said that:

"Just tried an iPhone 12 Pro – what an incredibly clunky piece of hardware. It looks and feels like an oversized version of an iPhone 5 from 2012, but with an ugly array of cameras sticking out at three different heights. The notorious notch and wide bezels are still there, creating a low screen-to-body ratio and general outdated feeling for the device."

Durov who got the iPhone 12 Pro, called the phone "an incredibly awkward piece of iron."

Durov also criticized the preservation of the huge notch, which creates a smaller usable front panel area and an overall feeling of an outdated device.

Not only that, Durov also criticized Apple's management, referring how Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs differ from his successor.

“9 years after Steve Jobs died, the company is still living off the technology and reputation he built, without any meaningful innovation. It’s no surprise iPhone sales were down by 21% earlier this year. If this trend continues, in 7-10 years time the global market share of iPhones will be negligible."

Some of Durov's opinions aren't at all unique to him, as many others who have bought the iPhone 12 series have experienced the same frustration.

Another notable disappointment to those people, is the packaging.

Starting the 2020 model, Apple has decided to eliminate the charger and earphones, delegating the purchase to users, with the consequent increase in user spending. Apple’s motivation was to protect the environment so as not to create unnecessary items. To those people, Apple is doing this as a marketing move to increase sales.

With a similar design to its predecessors, less innovation, protruding camera bump, a similar set of cameras, and less things inside the box, Apple is selling the phones at a premium price as usual.

This, as Durov explained, is a symptom of a company that can no longer find a concrete innovation compared to its competitors.

Whereas competitors are experimenting and developing, and also making great strides with curved screens, foldable screens and rotating displays, Apple sticks to its flat screen, flat-edge design that is similar to a decade-old iPhone.

According to him, if this trend is to continue, the Cupertino-based company’s market share will fall to zero.