Preslav, a member of the PhoneArena team since 2014, is a mobile technology enthusiast with a penchant for integrating tech into his hobbies and work.
wasn’t made to be particularly memorable. It was made to be useful — a low-cost entry into Apple’s next big thing —is now stuck in the weird state of being a device built for a strategy that seems to be abandoned .
Apple’s AI was supposed to be very much cloud-based, with the whole Private Cloud Compute system guaranteeing encrypted information traveling between your handset and Apple’s supercomputer constantly.into the hands of as many people as possible, Cupertino was quick to upgrade its entry-level line. Begone old and beloved. However, the supposed updates were delayed time and again. The iOS patches that did come out were kind of slim. Ultimately, Apple was forced to postpone “The One” big update. It was initially supposed to land in March of 2025, right as theSaid update was going to overhaul Siri and bring AI features more useful than the unintentionally funny notification summaries to its iPhones. Now, it’s postponed indefinitely — probably to some time in 2026. There were a lot of reports about drama behind the scenes and how the AI features were not fully planned out and organization was a bit of a mess. Since there’s nothing concrete there, we won’t comment on that too much. The fact of the matter is that the company boldly “hijacked” the AI term to call it “As a result, Apple pivoted. Any subsequent talks and events were very sparse on mention of AI, and Cupertino went back to its “Privacy first” messaging. Most smart features that are offered are being marketed as “happening on your iPhone”.is no longer your gateway into the wonderful new world of Apple AI, it’s just a budget iPhone that launched at a weird cycle between thePro, the amazing re-work of iPadOS 26, and of course Liquid Glass — these were all new, hotly-anticipated, and arguably more exciting changes than the vague promise of “awesome AI”.launched in February, so there’s no way it got overshadowed by a September event. But we first saw the newwas also “the affordable one”, but it’s not a fair comparison, as it very clearly carved a place for itself. That was because thewas banking heavily on nostalgia and familiarity. It was the phone that brought Apple Pay to users that refused to let go of the small, thin design with a home button. It had its niche and reason to exist, and it is probably missed by its target demographic in the current age of all-screen iPhones.And those are just the models that are officially up on the Apple website. Third party retailers and carriers are still clearing off old stock of 16 Pro units, even way back to That’s a stark contrast to what we had in the very recent past — a choice of “the new iPhone”, “last year’s iPhone at a discount”, or “the cheap SE”. In this entire lineup of new models, old models, old stock, and even when you weigh in refurbished options — theis just lacking. It’s only available in two colors, it’s got the old thicker bezel design, the mute switch and no Camera Control , the old 60 Hz screen with ye olde big notch on top. No standout features and only a single camera.We have no reason to believe that Apple has given up on its AI dream. On the contrary — reports say that it’s in talks with Google to “rent”to power Siri for the small sum of $1 billion per year. That is until Apple’s engineers can finally put together their ownHowever, recent reports are also stating that Apple is currently rethinking its entire iPhone launch schedule. From the ground up — September of 2026 may only give us theI guess there’s a major strategy shift going on behind closed doors over at Cupertino. All we have to do is wait and see.Preslav, a member of the PhoneArena team since 2014, is a mobile technology enthusiast with a penchant for integrating tech into his hobbies and work. Whether it's writing articles on an iPad Pro, recording band rehearsals with multiple phones, or exploring the potential of mobile gaming through services like GeForce Now and Steam Link, Preslav's approach is hands-on and innovative. His balanced perspective allows him to appreciate both Android and iOS ecosystems, focusing on performance, camera quality, and user experience over brand loyalty.PhoneArena Community Rules A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.Multiple accounts - one person can have only one accountTo help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts: New accounts created within the last 24 hours may experience restrictions on how frequently they can post or comment.Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a post should be moderated - please, report it.If you use a VPN, Google has a serious warning you can't ignoreBest Cyber Monday tablet deals: It's not too late to save on Galaxy Tabs, iPads, and moreT-Mobile and Verizon operated MVNO might fall, CEO has fled the US
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