The 9 Biggest Apple Disappointments In 2018

1. Apple discontinued its smaller and more affordable iPhone device, the iPhone SE.

$350 (around Rs. 24,500) was the price of the cheapest device you could buy in the 2017 iPhone lineup, the iPhone SE.

In 2018, Apple introduced the new iPhone lineup while an old but incredible iPhone model was removed, the iPhone SE.

Now, the lowest price for an iPhone is $449 (Rs. 31,500) and that is the iPhone 7.

The iPhone 7 undoubtedly still a great device by Apple, but it is a shame that it decided to stop making small phones like the iPhone SE.

2. The new Apple’s HomePod shows how far behind Apple is in the competition

Apple launched its HomePod speaker with excellent sound in February to compete against Amazon and Google.

Amazon Echo and Google Home are currently miles ahead of Apple's Home Pod

But Apple still has a long list of things to add to its HomePod, including:

• No support for Android-powered devices.
• It will not do a good job answering random users’ question like Google and Amazon counterparts.
• Users can connect it to other devices with auxiliary cords
• It only works well with Apple Music

It’s worth noting that Apple’s HomePod comes with a price of $350 (around Rs. 34,500) which is much more expensive than the rival Google and Amazon devices.

It does have a beautiful design though, but it still needs a ton of improvements.

3. The latest iPhone XS can barely be called an iPhone X upgrade.

Apple has a tradition to redesign its iPhone devices every 2 years and in the year between, the company typically launches an “S’ model of that handset packing more powerful chipsets and also many standout and exciting features to set the “S” model apart from the previous variants.

In 2018, Apple released its iPhone X sporting more powerful specifications and slightly higher-quality camera compared to the last year’s iPhone X. But that is it, too underwhelming for a device supposed to be iPhone X’s successor and with a starting price of $1,000 (around Rs. 70,100), it is quite disappointing, at least for me.

4. Apple raises prices on pretty much everything.

Apple set a new standard for its popular 2018 products’ starting price, compared to last year. And it’s worth noting that these are the global pricing of Apple and the pricing in India is actually even worse.

• The starting price of the latest and cheapest iPhone device bumped up by $50 (Rs. 3,500).
• The starting price of the Apple’s Mac Mini bumped up by $300 (Rs. 21,000).
• The starting price of the MacBook Air bumped up by $200 (Rs. 14,100).
• The starting price of the iPad Pro bumped up by $150 (Rs. 10,500).
• The starting price of the latest and cheapest Apple Watch bumped up by $70 (Rs. 4,900).

Even though Apple does offer a great value on most of its products, but the increase in the price of its popular products this year were unjustified.

5. The 2018 iPad Pro is a gorgeous and excellent tablet but is still limited by some bizarre restrictions.

Apple’s latest iPad Pro is a stunning tablet with laptop-level hardware specifications.

But even though Apple opted for a USB Type-C in its iPad Pro for the first time, it still doesn’t allow users to connect external storage devices to its tablet.

And even though Apple has insisted that its latest iPad Pro is an excellent alternative as a work computer, it still refuses to allow the iPad Pro to work with trackpads or mice, which are the two of the most necessary accessories for a work computer.

That means you still had to lift your arm constantly to touch its screen, which isn’t a good experience at all.

The iPad Pro by no mean is still an excellent device, but that is for tablet standards, it won’t be a genuine alternative to a laptop if Apple still holds on to its bizarre restrictions.

6. Apple's big 4-day Black Friday "shopping event" was nothing but disappointment

Apple had hyped up its fans with a Black Friday 4-day shopping event last month, starting from 23 November.

But the fans were later hugely disappointed with the fact that none of the latest Apple devices were discounted on the event, but the iPhone maker only offered customers a gift card for every purchase on some specific products.

And even more disappointed when Apple restricted the use of those gift card to just older devices. For example, the $50 iPhone gift card could only be used to buy the regular and the Plus models of iPhone 7 and 8. People who purchased the 2018 iPad Pro were also not eligible for the Apple’s gift card.

While many fans were surely very disappointed by the shopping even of Apple, the simple hard truth is that Apple, unlike other companies, doesn’t need shopping events to be successful.

7. The latest MacBook Air didn’t really come with the design that many people had hoped for.

After keeping the same design for many years, Apple finally decided that 2018 is the time to redesign its MacBook Air.

The latest MacBook Air is by no mean a great laptop. But it comes with a design that is hardly different from the previous one and a $200 (around RS 14,000) higher price tag.

New Retina display is the most notable difference between the old and new models. Also, the aluminum borders surrounded the display are now replaced by black borders.

Sadly, the Retina display is sharp, yes, but it is also somehow quite dim for my eyes. The MacBook Air is a great laptop over, but its display just can’t get bright enough. Though I have to admit that one of my colleagues is actually happy that he upgraded his old one to the 2018 model.

8. The new iOS 12 doesn’t seem like a significant upgrade from iOS 11.

Around the same time every year, Apple launches a new phone, but the best part is that they always release a new software update for their upcoming devices ahead of launch.

But this year’s iOS 12 was quite lackluster and hardly an upgrade from the previous iOS 11.

Grouped notifications, which stacks the notifications by person and apps, are one of the most significant changes in the new iOS 12. Apple also added new features called App Limits and ScreenTime which are indeed pretty useful but only for a limited number of users. And there is also Siri Shortcuts which seems to reach only a very few users.

Refinement isn’t a bad thing, but the past iOS updates added improvements that could actually change the experience of owning an iPad or iPhone.

9. Siri is hardly improved

While the Siri had a great start when Apple first introduced it in 2011 on the iPhone 4S, it hasn’t got improved over the last 8 years. Meanwhile, other virtual assistants from Amazon and Google have already been sharing their dominating positions in the market as they offer lots more abilities and skills as well as connect to more devices.

Thanks to last year’s iOS 11, Siri became more natural sounding, but there was no significant improvement in this year’s iOS 12. Overall, the Apple virtual assistant still has difficulties generally doing and even understanding what users want it to do.

The main features Apple should improve its Siri are better-understanding speech ability, quicker response, being more accurate on commands and more proactively on helping users in more personal ways. For now, Siri is still miles behind its rivals.