What I expect from Apple's product launch tomorrow

I am going to tell you a story. It was 20, 25, maybe 30 years ago. I was sitting in the lobby of the Swissôtel with Tony. He pulled a Mac out of his bag. I immediately teased him: “Have you started using a Mac? If you aren't using Linux, you could at least use Windows.” He replied, “If you use it, you will love it too.”

I believe it was 10-15 years after this incident, during my time as a consultant at the Turkish Exporters Assembly, that they gave me a Mac. A year later, I bought my own computer. I have been using Apple technologies ever since. I tried to give it up and switch to another side for a while, but it didn't work out.

Now, let's sit down and have a serious talk.

Yes, I will try the foldable iPhone. However, the reason for this is not that it is an Apple technology. As a result of my decision to stop using computers for a long time, I have been trying to work with an iPad; I plan to abandon the iPad as well with the foldable iPhone. In other words, I intend to use a single device instead of paying for two separate devices.

Now you will say to me: “You were against foldable phones?”

You are right. I am still against foldable phones. However, I am tired of paying separately for a tablet and a phone every time. I am one of those who think that computers should not be used by anyone other than computer professionals. My thoughts on this have not changed. But I cannot say that I have found a more comfortable alternative either.

As far as I understand, there is still no possibility of encountering a phone that meets my expectations. I actually wrote about my expectations on this subject on the Turkcell blog years ago and have expressed them many times since. I think that many of the features we add to phones today should actually be separated as wearable devices. If we think of the phone as a single piece and we are talking about a SIM card, I am one of those who think that the SIM card that will establish communication should be on the watch.

I also don't strongly believe that the camera is an indispensable part of the phone. If a tablet is involved, the camera can certainly become more meaningful. To me, a camera feels like an apparatus that should be on a device much larger than a phone. Similarly, a significant portion of the health data that is given great importance today does not mean much to me. It is certainly meaningful to notify relatives in case of a fall, to call an ambulance if necessary, or to send an alarm to various authorities in an environment that is not trusted. But I do not see the health data and the camera, which everyone today portrays as very important, as essential parts of a mobile phone.

While I'm at it, Apple will launch its new products tomorrow. Among these, if the foldable mobile phone reaches a point where it doesn't require a separate tablet, as I just mentioned, it will interest me. I also liked the proportions of the phone, which resemble a passport. Let's see, we will try it.

I think the product that will catch my attention the most among the products Apple will introduce tomorrow will be the phone. I don't see a major innovation on the watch side. As for the headphones, it is not a product I prefer much because of its in-ear structure. In general, I prefer not to use headphones unless I have to, and when I do have to use them, I prefer not to choose in-ear headphones.

When it comes to foldable phones, Microsoft's dual-screen phone actually made a lot of sense to me. Unfortunately, they couldn't sustain it. Another important issue for me here is how much the phone can replace a tablet or a computer. Although Samsung has developed perhaps one of the best solutions in the industry in this regard, it has never been able to make the DeX technology—the idea of connecting the phone to a large screen and using it like a larger device—popular enough.

I haven't used DeX either. Maybe if I had used it, I wouldn't have liked it. My past attempts to switch to Android devices also fell short because the devices slowed down in a short time and became unusable for me. Moreover, I say this not only for phones but largely for tablets as well.

But my expectation from Apple is no longer limited to just new devices. There have been a very significant number of Apple users in Turkey for years, and services like Apple Pay and Apple One should now be fully usable in Turkey as well.

Even if Apple Pay never comes to Turkey, contactless payment via iPhone could technically be possible. One of the obstacles to this is that Turkey is not among the countries included in the NFC & SE platform. I think the BRSA (BDDK) and relevant institutions should have taken steps on this issue much earlier and forced Apple to include Turkey in this system. The banking sector in Turkey is extremely fast in terms of technology adaptation. I have no doubt that our banks will implement this in a very short time once the necessary infrastructure is opened. Therefore, the issue is not just whether Apple Pay comes or not; it is about the technological capabilities of the devices Apple sells in Turkey being usable here as well.

Good things are happening too

Last week, Tesla started its Cybercab taxi service in Austin, Texas. This vehicle is truly very interesting. It is one of the cars that has caught my attention the most recently. Moreover, the reason for this is not that it has no steering wheel, nor that it has no pedals, and certainly not that it has no rear window. The real reason is that the vehicle has an incredibly beautiful design and very successful proportions. Although the chosen color is not a color I like very much, I still think that the proportions of a car are very important. I really want it to come to Turkey. Not to ride in, but to own.

The second interesting development last week came from Dyson. Dyson, an innovative motor manufacturer, is not very successful in my opinion on the vacuum side, even though we use it at home. Especially the mask they released during the pandemic was even less successful than the vacuum. The only product that has really caught my attention so far was the fixture I saw in the restroom at the Sunset restaurant. In this fixture, you not only had the opportunity to wash your hands but also to dry them. Dyson's Blade technology looked really nice.

Today, for the first time, another Dyson product caught my attention: the toothbrush. The fact that it takes photos with artificial intelligence, evaluates these photos, and cleans tartar with a water flosser gives me the feeling that it is a product that must be evaluated. I am really very curious.

While talking about products, I would like to mention another product that has caught my interest recently. Air purifiers are not products that catch my attention much. I don't think they are very useful either. However, the Dreame FP10 air purifier caught my attention with both its design and the way it collects the hair of our furry friends in our home from the bottom while cleaning the air. I am really very curious about this product.

Sonos' new soundbar is also one of the products that has caught my attention recently. The fact that home audio systems are being designed with fewer devices, fewer cables, and in a way that will give better results seems like a correct development to me.

Book corner

While talking about innovation and new products, one of the books that came into my hands this week was Özlem Arslan Kart's book titled “Patent in the World of the Future”. The subtitle of the book, published by Ceres Yayınları, is “One Invention, One Patent, One World”. When we talk about technology, we usually focus on the resulting product; however, the patent issue is at least as important as the technology itself in the transformation of an idea from an invention to a product, and from a product to economic value. I have just started to evaluate the book within this framework; it is one of the books I am curious about, especially in terms of the relationship between innovation and intellectual property.