Apple’s “wait and watch” approach once led to category-defining innovations. But now, it seems like rivals are starting to pull ahead.
If you’ve followed Apple for any amount of time, you’ve probably noticed that the company isn’t in a rush to adopt cutting-edge technology. Instead, it waits until it can get things just right. As CEO Tim Cook said in a 2017 interview with Bloomberg, “We don’t feel the need to be first; our job is to be the best and give users something that truly makes a difference in their lives.”
But lately, I’ve started wondering if there’s more to the story. Sure, Apple’s Android rivals are often accused of tossing in features just for the sake of it. Yet nowadays, their hardware often feels superior—and it shows up in the market first.
There have certainly been times when Apple waited and then knocked it out of the park. Touch ID was way faster and more reliable than any previous fingerprint reader. Apple Pay made a strong case for near-field communication (NFC) by working much more smoothly than older solutions. And even if the Apple Watch wasn’t perfect at launch, it was years ahead of other smartwatches—and still is.
Then there are the gray areas. Take wireless charging. Back in 2012, Apple SVP Phil Schiller said that “having to create another device to plug into the wall is actually, for most situations, more complicated.” But five years later, the iPhone 8 and iPhone X launched with Qi wireless charging—basically the same thing, with no Apple magic. Today, Apple has arguably the best wireless setup in the form of MagSafe and has helped define the next-gen Qi2 standard. Still, the fact remains: they were years behind on that basic functionality.
More recently, there are cases where Apple just seems to be lagging. AI is an obvious one, but let’s talk about camera hardware.
For years, Apple could confidently say it had the best phone camera—and it was true. But if you’ve used any top-tier Android phone lately, it’s hard to say the same now. Sure, part of that comes down to software tuning, but hardware plays a major role too. In fall 2023, Apple introduced the “tetraprism” camera on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, boosting focal length from 3x to 5x. They framed it as a novel approach to lens design—and in some ways, it is. It lacks the rectangular periscope lens found on many Android phones, but the principle is similar. Even so, Apple couldn’t really claim a performance breakthrough.
Just look at the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, released earlier that same year. Its 5x telephoto lens is paired with a larger sensor, and the difference in clarity is obvious. Apple was rumored to be working on periscope-style cameras as early as 2020—and they even filed a patent back in 2016—but after all that time, waiting didn’t seem to help. Meanwhile, Huawei and Oppo were already shipping impressive periscope cameras in 2019.
The same goes for the 48-megapixel image sensor, which was the headline feature of the iPhone 14 Pro in 2022. It’s unclear why Apple waited so long to adopt it, especially since Android phones had started using 48MP sensors as early as 2019, combining four pixels into one for better 12MP shots—just like Apple eventually did.
In recent years, Android phones have even featured massive 1-inch image sensors, the same size you’d find in enthusiast compact cameras like Sony’s RX100 series. Once you experience photos taken with that kind of sensor, it’s hard to go back—they don’t even feel like “phone” photos anymore. The tech is mature, but from the outside, it doesn’t seem like Apple is very interested in keeping up.
Of course, Apple’s scale could be part of the problem. It may be harder for them to secure cutting-edge components in the quantities needed for their massive product launches. For instance, the tetraprism lens was only available on the iPhone 15 Pro Max at first, and only later expanded to the smaller iPhone 16 Pro. Android manufacturers ship so many different models that it’s easier for them to reserve premium parts for just a few flagships.
This all came to mind recently while reading reports about Apple’s delayed entry into foldable phones—a category Samsung first entered back in 2019 (albeit with some well-publicized hiccups). Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, for one, notes that Apple is aimed at launching a foldable phone by early 2026, using some of the technology aimed at a thinner iPhone. He also reports that the 2025 Apple “iPhone Air” could be around 2 mm thinner than any existing iPhones- iPhone 16 Pro-8.3 mm thick.
Compare that to Oppo’s Find N5, currently the world’s thinnest foldable phone when open—just 4.2 mm thick with a nearly invisible crease. What exactly will Apple learn by building a foldable phone as thick as a regular one? The Find N5 isn’t just sleek—it’s a phone that actually surprises you with how thin it can be. Make it even a bit thicker and you might not even be able to fit a USB-C port. (Gurman noted Apple is also exploring port-less iPhones.)
More importantly, the Find N5 is already out there. At this point, I don’t expect Apple’s first foldable to break any new ground in terms of hardware. It’s been six years since the original Galaxy Fold. Foldables have matured a lot—and Apple is nowhere to be seen.
To be fair, Apple’s software is still excellent, and its ecosystem is second to none. That’s why I personally continue to buy iPhones. The Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch are still the best in their respective categories, so I want a phone that works seamlessly with them.
But something’s happening with the iPhone. It’s no longer true that Android companies can’t compete on hardware or design. And if Apple still wants to wow the world with a mobile device—or at least impress hardware geeks like me—that window might be closing.
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