Is the “new” Yellow iPhone 14 a big deal?
No! When every tech website and influencer talks about it, it seems like a big deal. But, it’s not!
Apple’s iPhone 14 YouTube launch video has 6.4M views. The Yellow iPhone launch video has 10M views. WHAT.
Here are some more YouTube stats-
MKBHD didn’t do a full video, but his YT Shorts video: 2.3M views
Wylsacom’s Yellow iPhone Unboxing: 398K views
TechBoss’s Yellow iPhone Unboxing: 371K views
It’s literally the same iPhone launched 6 months ago, just packaged in a yellow color. And, a new iPhone is coming in 6 months. Yet, the buzz around the yellow iPhone is infatuating. WHY?
Because, over the years, Apple has created an irresistible brand. Every college student wants a Mac, every casual athlete wants a Watch, every musicphile wants an AirPods, every teen wants an iPhone (even if it’s just for the blue bubbles). Everyone wants an Apple product.
Here’s how Apple intentionally (or not?) maintains the iPhone hype over the over.
June to August- When the hype around the existing iPhone is low, new iPhone and iOS leaks inadvertently leads to hundreds of videos publicizing them, pushing the line towards the peak
September- The new iPhone launches, hype is at an all-time high!
Holiday Season- The hype around the new iPhone starts to slide down, but the holiday season holds it tight for a few more months. Carrier deals and the happy happy disposable income keep the sales up and about
Jan to Feb- The folks who wanted the new iPhone have bought it. The iPhone hype is at the bottom, slowdown in sales starts to creep in…
March to April- “New iPhone” is launched with a new summer color! Apple intentionally creates this product (and the hype) to target mid-cycle customers who are usually on a much older iPhone. In fact, most people upgrade to a newer iPhone when they need to. They tend to avoid buying an iPhone when there’s a lot of hype around it. They don’t care as much about the novelty features neither are they interested in the new iPhone coming in 6 more months. So, the Yellow iPhone is a home-run!
April to August- And, we’re back to unintentionally (🤔) leaks to hype up the next iPhone
When a company is able to sell 150+ million iPhones year after year without changing much, it pretty much dictates what the media should be talking about. If Apple chooses not to incentivize the media, they would still generate hundreds of news articles, videos and podcasts that attracts millions of eyeballs. THAT is why every marketer wants to be associated with it (including me).
(New) Polaroid Now+ Gen 2
★★★★☆
All in all, this camera ticks almost every box: ✅Vintage Look ✅App ✅USB-C ✅Wrist Strap ✅Made with recycled materials 🚫Photo-Sharing
The app connectivity remains the biggest upside of the Now+ series. While it lets you scan and share Polaroids, it is truly meant for the Pro users. The app lets you control the aperture, shutter speed and also has a full manual mode for the enthusiastic. It has a few photography modes like Portrait, Light Paintings, Manual Exposure, and my absolute favorite- Double Exposure. Combined with the tripod mode, Double Exposure can create awe-inspiring clicks!
For the average Joe who does not care as much of the Pro features, you could opt for the cheaper, dumber Polaroid Now Gen 2 priced at $119.99, lack of app connectivity being the primary difference between the two.
Despite being already connected to the phone via bluetooth, it is surprising that at the epitome of social media, the camera still does not allow photo-sharing with your phone. It does seems like an intentional omission from the product because the only reason a consumer buys an instant camera is to possess physical films. Every consumer already has an obviously superior camera in their pocket with apps that allows you to edit any picture into a polaroid (if they really want to). So, the lack of photo-sharing capabilities should not distance its niche target audience.
Polaroid Now+ Gen 2 is the best instant camera out there but the continual cost of overly expensive Polaroid films ($2 / film) along with lack of sharing capabilities is why I drop a star from its overall rating: ★★★★☆
On a side note, over the last 5 year, the search for ‘Polaroid’ peaked in September 2022. Why? BECAUSE NETFLIX RELEASED ‘DAHMER’ AND PEOPLE WANTED TO LOOK AT THE ORIGINAL POLAROIDS 🥴
(New) Aqara G4 Smart Video Doorbell
★★★★☆
2 years ago, I decided to go all-in on Apple’s ecosystem- from my phone to the watch, from my cameras to the TV. Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for a budget-friendly, feature-rich doorbell that fully adopts Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV) certification, mainly for its secure and trusted cloud storage as well as local event detection processing, and there’s less than a handful of option. Enter Aqara G4 at $120.
Amongst most of the choices today, you end up either compromising on the features or pay a great deal of money to have it all. Aqara G4 meets in the middle. Wide angle camera. Multi-ecosystem compatibility. Battery powered. Local storage and processing. HKSV certified. Except the slightly below par audio-video quality, the G4 is near perfect.
Head on over to the full review to learn more about the design, features and more!
Well… there it is, the first Rever post. Thank you for being an early subscriber ❤️
Writing this first newsletter has been a tremendous learning process. We will be experimenting with some new formats and content type through the newsletter and social media. As an early subscriber, your support and feedback is invaluable.