Apple Inc designs and markets the iphones as their line of smart phones. The company first released the phone in 2007 and it uses Apple’s iOS as its operating system (Trautschold, Rene, and Gary 45). The most recent iphones, iphone 5C and iphone 5s belong to the seventh generation. The iphones are competing well in the cell phone industry with iphone 4 having a list of features that meet most of the needs of the consumers. Once a consumer purchases an iphone from the company, he or she can use products from Apple’s support partners, which allows for moving applications into the phone. These applications often improve the experience of the customers because they come with more features that they can install based on their tastes and preferences. There is no doubt that the iphones have revolutionized the cell phone industry by improving the experience of the consumers although with it also comes various challenges. The benefits and challenges that come with the iphone are all functions of support, design, quality and cost.
Before consumers decide on making a decision to purchase an iphone there are a few factors that they need to consider in order to know exactly what they are buying and for what use. Some people consider the iphones as being too difficult to use because of their complicated features. This is particularly true for the first time users who are still not familiar with how the phones work. Although most of the new consumers suffer from this problem, once they are acquainted with all the features of the phone, it becomes easy for them to use it. The phone allows the users to use Facebook and enjoy its many features. The iphones have an application known as FaceTime that enables the users to see the people with whom they are communicating. The consumers can use this feature by going into the contacts and searching for the FaceTime button and then activating it.
Iphone users can take a screenshot with their phones by simply pressing the Home and Sleep buttons simultaneously. The screen blinks for about a second to confirm the saving of the picture. Additionally, the phone allows the users to use shortcuts and dictionary. The phones have advanced cameras that are now making people to stop using the digital cameras in order to rely exclusively on them for taking pictures. These phones have 8-megapixel cameras that offer 40% faster photo taking than the normal models. These cameras also give the users a panorama feature that allows them to take 240-degree panorama images with a resolution of about 28 megapixels. Furthermore, this camera allows the users to record videos in 1080p high definition.
The icloud, which is also another feature of the phones, allows the consumers with other Apple products like ipods, Mac computers and ipads to share photos, contacts, music and data with all other Apple products. This is an added convenience for the loyal customers of the company because it saves them the hassle of transferring data between the different products. However, the fact that this feature is only limited to Apple products implies that the other consumers are greatly disadvantaged because they cannot transfer data like their counterparts who rely exclusively on the company. There are also other advantages that the users of the iphone can enjoy which makes the product ideal for phone users. For instance, Apple offers over 800000 applications for the consumers to use with many of them available on free basis. The consumers need to get into the online store and make downloads. Siri, which is a voice activated virtual assistant, allows the users with anything from finding direction to making a phone call. The iphone series is therefore one efficient cell phone that any phone user should dream of purchasing. However, this does not mean that they do not have their shortcomings because they equally have their own inconveniences.
The iphones do not have memory card slots like the Android and Blackberry, which implies that once you exceed its memory size there is nothing else you can do apart from deleting data in order to generate space. Additionally the phones do not allow for efficient use of USB drives without causing inconveniences, as Apple prefers its customers to get applications from their online store. These phones have a big problem with battery life because iphone 4 for instance can only last for up to7 hours on 3G. The effect of this is that the battery life is relatively short owing to frequent charging. Apple requires the consumers to activate the iphones through a designate wireless carrier but once a user does this, it locks the phone to that carrier greatly inconveniencing the users.
In conclusion, this study has highlighted the different features of the iphone clearly stating its advantages and challenges that come with its usage. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages and as such, these phones offer a good experience to the users. Apple Inc continues to be innovative and as such, one can only expect things to keep getting better with the emergence of new technologies as this will see the company improve the experience of the consumers.
- Trautschold, Martin, Rene Ritchie, and Gary Mazo. Iphone 4s Made Simple. New York: APress, 2012. Print.
