A common opinion about Apple is it is a brilliant, inventive company that makes great products. I believe Apple is no longer the revolutionary company it used to be.

You may not be aware that almost all the features Apple claims to be its creation, had already been implemented by other companies before.

Go back to one of the most iconic moments in tech history: the introduction of the first iPhone in 2007. The iPhone was a game changer; however, it was not the first smartphone. That honor goes to the IBM Simon of 1994 which had a touch screen and could launch third-party applications. Though, the IBM Simon didn’t take off due to battery issues, and flip phones gained popularity.

Everyone was excited when the iPhone 4 was released in 2010, with its front-facing camera that started the selfie trend. Again, Apple was late to the game, as the 2003 Sony Ericsson Z1010 was the first to boast a front-facing camera.

In 2013, the iPhone 5S marked a revolutionary effort in improving security for your phone access with the introduction of Touch ID. Yet again, Apple wasn’t the first to implement fingerprint technology, as the Toshiba G500 and G900 from 2007 were.

The list goes on and on, from water and dust resistance, to dual cameras. Even its latest iteration, the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X, brings wireless charging to the table, yet other smartphones have had that feature for years.

I concede that Apple was still revolutionary in pushing the smart-phone industry in the right direction. Even though the features were introduced before Apple did, they didn’t take off. With Apple introducing the features, its success among consumers, caused other smartphone companies to follow. So in that sense, Apple was pioneering the development of smartphones.

Though now, rival companies have caught up to Apple and are pushing their innovations to the smartphone industry, causing Apple to follow rather than lead. This becomes apparent with Apple’s recent smartphone releases.

Apple used to say how smaller is better, but the popularity of Samsung’s Galaxy Note series caused Apple to rethink its approach. This resulted in an iPhone 6 that’s larger than its predecessor, and a much larger iPhone 6 Plus. Apple also left little to no control in customizing your phone, but
competing against Android’s freedom to change your phone to your preferences, Apple slowly began rolling out customizable features.

All of this makes me conclude that, sadly, Apple is no longer the revolutionary company it was in the past.

A wake up call for Apple to return to its former glory, would be for its consumers to voice their anger over the stagnancy in recent iPhones, or its consumers to stop purchasing Apple products. That way, Apple can finally realize that it needs to return to its former glory.