Apple's iPhone 16 launch shows the tech world is floundering

Is calling something a 'stunning new design' enough to make it a stunning new design? This was a question I found myself asking several times during Apple's 'Glowtime' event this week, during which the company revealed the latest additions to its iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods line ups. I was frequently informed throughout the stream how incredible its new designs were – and it often felt like Apple was trying to convince itself, let alone me.

This was always going to be more software-centric event, with the iPhone 16 in particular created "from the ground up" to support 'Apple Intelligence', revealed during June's WWDC. With the rise of AI, software is arguably in a more interesting place than hardware right now (despite the efforts of several pointless AI gadgets to justify their existence). But when even Apple's hardware announcements seem to land not with a bang but a whimper, is it time to admit that, from a hardware perspective at least, the tech world is becoming increasingly dull?

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Daniel John
Design Editor

Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles.

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