The Apple Watch stole the show at this year's new iPhones

The most exciting announcement of Apple's annual Apple event Tuesday was not a set of three new smartphones, but a smartwatch. Apple Watch Series 4 – with its rounded corners, larger screen and integrated EKG scanner – has undoubtedly become the most sought-after gadget following Apple's hardware update in the fall. While many people have lamented having to choose between the iPhone XS and the XR, or simply give up a mobile upgrade, the Series 4 stands out for the simplicity of its purchase for those who have stayed away of the laptop. market.

For those who like me have already had an Apple Watch Series 0 or 1, it is obvious, and it was what fascinated me the most when I decided to stay up late last night to claim a midnight order. The disparity is best illustrated by the fact that, after less than half a day of orders, each level of iPhone XS available has an expedition window from September 28 to October 5. On the other hand, almost all models of Apple Watch Series 4 will only be delivered from October 12 to 19.

There are a number of reasons why the Apple Watch surpasses the iPhone today. The first and most obvious is that the iPhone has become boring, trapped by the diminishing returns that Apple can eliminate every year. It seems, 11 years after the introduction of the first iPhone, that Apple's flagship product has simply lost most of its brilliance. There are few upgrades and great features that you can add to a mobile product before its incremental changes are overshadowed by its cost.

Just look at the last four years of the iPhone. In 2014, Apple introduced the Plus version of the iPhone 6 at the release of the iPhone 6, which helped to reinforce the trend of increasingly larger screens than Samsung and others Asian manufacturers had put forward. In 2015, the phone was paired with the Apple Watch for the first time, offering Apple's hardcore fans a better reason to integrate more Apple hardware and software into their lives. The following year, Apple took off the headphone jack and launched AirPods, starting a rigorous debate on the need to force the industry to adopt Apple's wireless vision for the future. Last year, we had the iPhone X. With his signature, his screen without bezel and FaceID, he became a pioneer in the industry and facilitated a more interesting debate on the design of smartphones that he does not have. had been for years.

This year, which is certainly a year of S upgrade and so naturally less exciting, it does not seem that the iPhone has a lot of room to develop. This brings us to the second most obvious reason to worry about the iPhone: the price. As the iPhone has stagnated in terms of new features, Apple has increased the average cost of its flagship device by more than $ 350, from $ 749 to $ 999.

Picture of Nilay Patel / The Verge

Last year, the company understood with the iPhone X that customers would be willing to pay not for significant new features, but for design and aesthetic improvements. As a result, he began using better quality materials, such as OLED screens and glass backplates, and increasing available storage levels. This year, you can get an iPhone XS Max with 512GB of storage for $ 1,449, making it the most expensive iPhone ever made, just like the X was before.

True, there are a number of customers who are probably waiting for the iPhone XR, which will undoubtedly be the highest quality and feature-rich $ 749 smartphone that the company has ever sold. (Pre-orders for the XR do not open until next month, as Apple develops supply chain and manufacturing solutions). There is an argument to say that the XR is the most interesting phone and the most the three, but we will only know later this year.

Today, Apple's flagship phone is the least exciting device it has developed in a long time, and it's easy to see why it's been overtaken by the Apple Watch. What began as a late-onset product on the wearable scene, Apple Watch has since become not only the world's best-selling portable model, but also the world's best-selling watch.

Apple has done this by constantly improving its hardware and software at each new annual iteration. Just like the early days of the iPhone, every new Apple watch adds something exciting and legitimately impressive, from the Series 2's water-resistance to the Series 3's cellular connectivity. a -in the EKG scanner and the first revision of the material design of the watch since its creation.

There will be a time when the Apple Watch, like the iPhone, will become a stagnant product that simply becomes more exorbitant and expensive. Ironically, Apple's first-ever Apple Watch contained a range of now-retired models, as expensive as $ 17,000. There is therefore a lot of room for the company to develop its smartwatch brand and reintegrate it into the luxury market. But until then, we can expect a few more years of innovative innovations and design revisions.

Maybe Apple overcomes the engineering and design issues to create a round shape Apple watch. Maybe the company understands how to extend the battery life by more than 24 hours. There are many ways in which the Apple Watch can improve and reach a mass audience. But one thing is certain at the moment: with the Series 4 in the wild, it is probably more exciting to develop the next Apple Watch than the next iPhone, and customers seem to be responding visibly to this change.