Apple Unveils Bigger iPhones at Heftier Prices

Photo by Jim Wilson for New York Times

• Medium: Newspaper
• Vehicle: New York Times
• Original Article
• Writers: Brian X. Chen, Jack Nicas, Farhad Manjoo and Reed Abelson
• Date: 9/13/18
• Company: Apple
• Client: Apple

I’m sure it is a big shocker that Apple is unveiling yet another version of their extremely popular iPhone. The new XS is their biggest and most expensive creation to date. Along with this new phone they have also revealed the Apple Watch Series 4, which is putting an even bigger emphasis on health. The original article in the New York Times by Brian X. Chen, Jack Nicas, Farhad Manjoo and Reed Abelson states that Apple continues to increase the size of their products because that is the trend of what people are buying and they are focusing the watch on health because they want to be the first over the counter ECG device to be sold over-the-counter that has been approved by the FDA.

With Apple as my client, this is pretty neutral press coverage, leaning slightly positive while also posing some criticism. The article gives many facts about the new products and talks about Apple’s success and innovation. However, it also calls out negative aspects such as the pronunciation confusion of the new XS and the fact that doctors are saying that people should not necessarily rely only on their Apple Watch for health information.

The main audience affected are apple consumers, smart phone/watch users, and other companies such as Samsung. Ultimately, Apple continues to innovate and consumers must decide if the rising price of Apple products is worth the ability to have health information and a mini sized TV at their fingertips. Competitors should be keeping an eye on Apple’s trends and see how well the bigger sizes and health-focused watches perform so they can either follow the lead or take a new direction.

The public opinion of Apple is clearly pretty positive. They are one of the most popular technology brands especially in the U.S. and people are willing to dig very deep into their pockets to buy their products.

In my opinion I think that even though this article calls attention to the rising prices of Apple products, notes that the larger sizes of phones have been an issue for a lot of people and says that the Apple Watch cannot fulfill all of your health needs, it is still positive coverage. The article also notes the incredible success of Apple and their recent launches and gives facts about the improvements to the new models and the article simply gives publicity to their new iPhones and watches. I didn’t even know that Apple was releasing new products until I saw this article so it’s like free advertising. The public’s opinion and loyalty to Apple is so high already that it would really take a lot to get people to stop buying their products. Clearly price has never been an issue for most people.

Apple should continue to emphasize the new features and improvements in the new iPhone models and not advertise the price. When people see the new version of the iPhone and watch, people will buy it and worry about how to pay for it later. Also, if Apple believes that the trend is large phones and screens, they should emphasize that new feature.