Looking back at the iPhone from the Samsung Note 7 explosion: Apple's design is not just for show

Apple products have long been known for their design. However, after the release of the iPhone 7, observers no longer have the same high regard for the design of Apple products, and the industry generally believes that Apple's aesthetics are outdated.

New York Times critic Farhad Manjoo pointed out that "Apple's design position in hardware and software has been shaken. Competitors continue to imitate and surpass its product designs, and the iconic designs of Apple's mobile phones, computers, tablets and other products seem to be universal." This is also the problem faced by Apple. These classic and iconic designs are difficult to avoid being copied and imitated by other companies.

Imitations of the iPhone are everywhere. Phones like Google Pixel and Xiaomi look very similar to the iPhone. Samsung is even more so. Apple has filed a lawsuit against Samsung for infringement of its design patents, and the case has even reached the US Supreme Court. In 2012, a jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple up to $1 billion in patent infringement fees. Last year, the fine was reduced to $540 million, and Samsung is trying to reduce it to $400 million. The Supreme Court is weighing whether the amount of patent infringement fines should be determined based on the total number of mobile phones shipped.

The huge fines Samsung faces for patent infringement also illustrate the appeal of Apple's product design. When asked why people criticize the iPhone 7's product design, John Maeda, former president of the Rhode Island School of Design, pointed out that perhaps these criticisms arise because "they no longer seem to believe that the product design can be surpassed in such a rectangular device." Maeda said that he had had long and in-depth exchanges with Sony designers, and they were also frustrated about how to design televisions, "because all you can do is design the rectangular frame of the TV, and the other things on the screen have nothing to do with it." He added that the same problem exists in the design of the iPhone. The most important thing is the screen design - such as its size, brightness and resolution, etc. "But now we have almost exhausted all the parameters, which is basically another challenge similar to TV design."

It is not easy to stand out from such an environment. The design of automobile products is less restricted, but it will continue to iterate with the emergence of new technologies and new regulations, and many past designs have been forgotten. But this is not the case with Porsche. As a Porsche design expert said, "Here you are not designing the best sports car, but designing the best Porsche." For Porsche, its design is a "sign".

In 1947, Porsche launched the 356 sports car. In many ways, it is similar to the first generation of iPhone, although not perfect, but with a streamlined appearance and aerodynamic design. From 356 to 911, the shape, function, components and brand of Porsche sports cars highlight the unique design of Porsche, which has become the essence of Porsche sports cars.

The design concepts of Porsche and Apple cars are similar. Like the 356 sports car, the first generation iPhone also laid the foundation for subsequent iPhone products. It is different from other mobile phones on the market. When it was first released, the iPhone used a touch screen instead of a mobile phone keyboard, which became the main way for users to interact with the phone. It can be said that the iPhone is the essence of mobile phone products.

Likewise, the MacBook, iPad, and iPhone are all products of continuous improvement. There are always some product designs that make us very confused. But if you put the first generation iPhone next to the iPhone 7, you can see the similarities in their design. The same is true for the iPad and the Macbook.

Diego Rodriguez, partner at San Francisco design studio ideo, noted, “Successful product lines have a strong design language — a language that expresses the look, feel and function of the product. A dynamic design language is embedded in the product and evolves as it evolves. That’s exactly what’s happening with Apple products. You can even see hints of Apple’s current laptop line, the PowerBook, in the iPhone 7.”

However, design is more than just appearance. The recent situation of Samsung's flagship smartphone Note 7 is a good example. When Note 7 was first launched, many critics praised it. Verge said that "Note 7 is the best product Samsung has ever made, and it can also be said to be the best large-screen phone." CNET also believes that "it has a gorgeous appearance, and the coral blue color is very stunning." The Wall Street Journal also believes that Note 7 "is so attractive with its curved screen."

However, the Note 7 subsequently suffered from problems such as overheating and explosion, forcing Samsung to recall millions of devices from the market and stop production of the Note 7. The related problems caused Samsung to lose about $3 billion, and the impact on the Samsung brand was immeasurable.

When you think about the design of the iPhone 7, the issues with the Samsung Note 7, and the patent infringement lawsuit between Apple and Samsung, it's clear that we still have a lot of misunderstandings about product design, especially Internet product design. Many technology critics mistakenly focus on the product's appearance design and ignore the product's inner workings.

Looking back, we are looking at the new iPhone 7. In fact, it has a great leap in technology. Matthew Panzarino, editor of the technology news website Techcrunch, pointed out that "from the perspective of the product's impact on the industry, the iPhone 7 series of smartphones is the best iPhone ever. Apple's iPhone 7 is a real processing weapon, and its performance even exceeds that of some Mac computers. Its processor performance is 40% faster than the previous generation iPhone and 120 times faster than the original iPhone. This high-performance processing capability enables the iPhone 7 to perform complex calculations directly on the local machine without sending it to the cloud for reprocessing."

For many people, the significant improvement in iPhone performance makes it a perfect computing platform, which greatly improves the operation of virtual reality and augmented reality applications. David Smith, CEO of virtual reality company Wearality, pointed out, "Now these phones are high-performance computers. We can even turn your phone into an iMax theater." Although many people sneer at the appearance of Apple's new generation of iPhones, in fact, Apple hides the complexity of technology under the appearance - its high-performance chips, storage and batteries can more perfectly display applications and photos.

In contrast, Samsung forgot that performance is the most important thing in its competition with Apple. Mark Chul-wan, former director of the advanced battery department of the Korea Electronics Technology Research Institute, pointed out that "Compared with other mobile phones, the Note 7 has more functions and is more complex. In the competition with Apple, Samsung packed too many innovations into the phone and made the product uncontrollable." Especially in the field of smartphones, integrating too many functions into a product is very complicated and a complete gamble. Obviously, Samsung has to bear the consequences.

What is the best design? "The best design is the technology underneath the appearance, the seamless experience between software services and users". Apple has done just that. Maybe some people will still criticize the design of Apple products, but we should remember that good design should at least ensure that the phone in your hand will not explode.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.