iPhone launches have been boring for years, and I don’t see why the iPhone 18 Pro should be any different

Opinion
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I'm sick of big events for boring upgrades

iPhone 17 Pro Max in front of a moving London Underground train
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

If you're paying attention to iPhone rumors, you may have heard that the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max won't be particularly landmark upgrades.

According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, we shouldn't be expecting a "big update" and that both phones will offer "minor tweaks from last year's iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max."

And reading this, all I can think is the fact that most phone launches are underwhelming — more so this year. So maybe it's about time we stopped treating them like some grand spectacle, and resigned ourselves to the fact that phone launches should be a matter of routine.

Phone launches have been boring for a long time

Tim Cook at an Apple event

(Image credit: BRITTANY HOSEA-SMALL/AFP via Getty Images)

I've been covering major phone launches for over a decade now, and before that I still made a habit of keeping up to date with the major phone launches. And, to be perfectly honest, the excitement is well and truly gone. There are only so many times you can see the Apples or Samsungs release a new device with incremental hardware updates and refreshed software before the cynicism starts to take hold.

That's not to say that there haven't been any exciting developments over the past 12 or 13 years. I remember quite a bit of excitement in 2008 and early 2009, as foldable phones first started making their way into the world, only for the harsh pricing and Samsung's initial botched attempt at releasing the Galaxy Fold to kill a lot of the momentum.

But everything else around that time was firmly in the territory of incremental upgrades. Occasionally, we'd see a new feature, some updated design, or an upgrade to the camera. But for the most part, phone companies had figured out exactly what kind of hardware fit the price people were willing to pay for a smartphone.

Phone companies should calm down, and stop acting like every new generation of smartphone is the technological equivalent of the second coming.

People like to complain that the current flagship is just the same as the last flagship, and in my experience, there's still an element of truth there. Considering the fact that most of us will only use a fraction of the power our phone is capable of, getting a new, faster chipset or a slightly brighter display is not going to make much of a difference to our day-to-day. Software features invariably end up being available on older models too, so it's not like they make much of a difference.

The only selling point these things have, despite all the pomp and circumstance afforded to them, is that the number on the specs sheet now looks bigger than last year.

That's great. We certainly don't want to be asked to pay even more money for a phone that is identical to the one that came before it. That's the reason I'm especially annoyed at all the Pixel 10a rumors right now. But big numbers aren't the kind of thing that warrants a big flashy presentation filled with an audience full of over-the-top cheers and whooping.

This isn't to say that people can't look forward to new devices, or flock to retailers and pre-order as soon as they're physically able to. Just that phone companies should calm down, and stop acting like every new generation of smartphone is the technological equivalent of the second coming.

The spectacle isn't meant for us

Apple Event Sept. 15

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan via Getty Images)

Here's the thing, though. The flash and spectacle isn't actually meant for the audience. Sure, maybe hyping up the consumer masses with the promises of incredible new phones helps sell devices, but that's not who's being targeted. These days, the most important thing to a tech company and all the executives in charge is the share price.

Growth and profits are important, don't get me wrong, but if the share prices dip a little too much, then their jobs are on the line. Investors and shareholders don't like it when the line dips too much, and that means big businesses pull out all the stops to keep them happy and make the company look good.

Big flashy events to mark the launch of the latest product are the ultimate show of strength and confidence in what's being sold. Not to mention the fact that it's a chance to publicly grandstand and share all their accomplishments with the world — regardless of who actually cares about the number of people who have iOS 26 installed. That self-confidence means the investors watching are more likely to be content that their money isn't going to disappear in the blink of an eye. Share prices stay high, and everybody wins.

Well, apart from all the people who have to pretend it's a good thing that Google rolled out Jimmy Fallon to turn the Pixel 10 launch into the world's worst talk show segment.

Of course, in the world of business, having one company do a flashy annual product launch event means all its rivals do the same thing. Then someone goes ahead and puts two big events on the calendar, which causes the others to follow suit. And it inevitably spirals until we have launch events scheduled for minor products that really just needed to be a press release. Like the iPhone 17e, MacBook Air M5 or Pixel 10a.

And I'm just getting a little tired of acting as though these events are a big deal, when they're the complete opposite.

Bottom line

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Pixel 10 Pro XL vs Galaxy S25 Ultra vs OnePlus 15.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide / John Velasco)

2026 is already feeling particularly lean when it comes to impressive phone launches, at least according to all the rumors we've been hearing. So it's no huge shock that Apple may follow that trend with a less-than-stellar iPhone 18 Pro launch. But then again, everyone should have seen this coming anyway.

Phone launches are a rather unexciting affair and have been for a long time, and there's no reason to think why this year would have been any different. Maybe the iPhone Fold will throw a cup of gasoline into the fire and keep things feeling fresh and exciting. It's not every year that a major phone maker decides to try something this different, after all.

But this doesn't change the fact that phone launches have been an exercise in drudgery for at least the past several years. And considering how ubiquitous smartphones have become, it's time to stop treating them with the kind of reverence that we don't afford to other products in our lives.

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Tom Pritchard
Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.

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