Apple’s Next iPhone Shows How It’s Perfected the Game of Inches
Better cameras and new file formats mean more memory—and that’s a lucrative combination.
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during a product launch event at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., on Sept. 10, 2019.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America
There are three things you can safely predict about each new generation of iPhone: It will have a better camera than its predecessor, a faster processor, and Tim Cook, Apple Inc.’s chief executive officer, will call it the “best iPhone we’ve ever made.”
For all the technological wizardry, camera and chip improvements can seem a little uninspiring. The real magic is their effect on Apple’s earnings. Because unlike innovations such as Face ID—the facial recognition system used to unlock iPhones—the chip and camera improvements bring a dual benefit to the Cupertino-based company: Not only do consumers pay a premium for the new features, they also usually end up needing more storage to make the most of those features. And storage, it turns out, is an unbelievable money-printing machine. In fact, it might even be Apple’s secret weapon.