Has the iPhone XS, which has been out of date for many years, become more popular than CCDs overnight?

There are finally some clues about Apple's first foldable iPhone, which has been delayed for years.

Recently, following the rumor that the foldable iPhone "will go into production at the end of the third quarter or the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2025", well - known Apple supply - chain analyst Ming - Chi Kuo further revealed that this foldable iPhone will directly adopt the technical solution of its old rival, Samsung. The debate between Apple fans and Samsung fans has started to simmer again.

Debate aside, even Apple CEO Tim Cook may not be able to answer whether this potentially "most expensive iPhone in history" can sell well.

On the other hand, what the head of Apple can decide is that outdated iPhones should be swept into the "recycling bin of the era", even the so - called "king of Apple phones" that is widely loved by Apple fans.

More than a month ago, when Apple launched iOS 26, it also updated its "list of obsolete products", which included the iPhone XS series released in 2018. This normal update action caused quite a stir on the Internet - the iPhone that was once hailed as "the largest and most advanced" is finally saying goodbye.

You know, when this iPhone was released, Apple fans around the world complained that it was "more mediocre than surprising". However, no one expected that the splash made by the foldable iPhone may be less than that of the now - popular - again iPhone XS on the Internet.

This iPhone, which is regarded as an "ever - lasting classic iPhone" by many young bloggers, has shown a strong ability to attract fans in today's era of rapid iteration of electronic products, which is really incredible. Are young people scrambling to own it just to keep it as a souvenir?

"Truly lifelike" photos

Even if Apple will release a more revolutionary iPhone 17 in two months, there is still no shortage of recommendation notes about the iPhone XS series on social media; on online second - hand platforms, there are countless people who want this model.

On online second - hand platforms, there are quite a few sellers and buyers of the iPhone XS series. (Photo/Screenshot of a second - hand trading platform)

Isn't the latest iPhone appealing? The answer may not be unanimous, but its cost - performance ratio is obviously not that high.

After all, the iPhone XS, with a second - hand price of around 1000 yuan, is still powered by the A12 chip, and its design is not outdated even today. For cash - strapped students, these almost perfect "advantages" of the iPhone XS can more or less help them cross the threshold of being an Apple fan. But for most young people who love to follow the trend, these basic features don't seem to be the reason for their interest.

In April this year, Bruce, a post - 00s worker who likes to record life with plog (photo blog), spent 800 yuan to buy a second - hand iPhone XS in 90% new condition as a backup phone and used it to record plog. "It's all because I accidentally found on Xiaohongshu that the photos taken by the iPhone XS series are 'truly lifelike'."

Recommendations about the iPhone XS on Xiaohongshu can be summarized as "a divine phone for taking good portraits" and "a substitute for Fuji cameras". (Photo/Screenshot of Xiaohongshu)

There are quite a few people on social media who have had the same experience as Bruce. After carefully sorting out these recommendation posts, "good photo quality" is the most appealing reason: some people think landscape photos "look very comfortable", and some prefer the soft texture of portrait photos. In general, it is regarded as "a divine phone for taking good portraits" and "a substitute for Fuji cameras".

The reverse popularity of this iPhone is due to the Smart HDR technology introduced by Apple at that time. Looking back, the reason why Apple proposed this technology was to "cope with complex lighting environments". Drawing on the idea of astronomical photography technology, it uses algorithms to generate a photo with a wider dynamic range and richer details.

The new imaging technology sounds attractive, but the overly soft photo texture caused complaints from many Apple fans around the world at that time, and the photos were disliked for looking "like they were covered with cream". (Photo/Apple's 2018 fall product launch)

When the iPhone 11 was released a year later, Apple introduced a set of image - processing technology called Deep Fusion, hoping to improve the imaging quality in various scenarios through multi - frame synthesis, but it still failed to satisfy Apple fans.

Even today, many people still complain that the photos taken by Apple phones are far from what they want. "The details have indeed been enhanced a lot, but after looking at the photos taken by the original camera, I can only silently open the photo - editing software to make myself feel better," Bruce, who owns an iPhone 13, said frustratingly.

There is no such thing as a "divine phone" in this world

In an era when algorithms create everything, "style" has become the first aspect to be precisely optimized. The monotonous "perfect blockbusters" have made young people who are keen on recording life feel numb.

In the past two years, the retro trend led by CCD cameras has become popular. Keywords such as Y2K, retro, film - like, and atmosphere seem to carry a strong sense of "beauty in the period of economic upswing", attracting young people.

It's not hard to understand that the iPhone XS series, caught in the cracks of the trend of the times, has not improved in the past seven years, and its hardware has actually fallen behind the times.

In addition to the much - complained - about camera function at that time, it has more minor problems than you can imagine: for example, the Intel radio - frequency chip it is equipped with makes the signal "worse than the old models"; the slow charging speed in standby mode; the embarrassment of having to use Bluetooth headphones when charging after the headphone jack was removed; the poor experience of Face ID; and the so - called "IP68 (highest level) water and dust resistance function" which is regarded as false marketing...

However, young people's preferences have changed dramatically. From being mediocre to a "divine phone", the iPhone XS just sits there, quietly becoming the emotional sustenance of young people.

Seven years have passed in a flash. Apple has released one iPhone after another, and the title of "the most powerful but most expensive" has changed hands one after another. Apple under the leadership of Cook still has a booming business. Even the most loyal Apple fans have gradually become numb to Apple's boring and incremental innovation - new products are still delicate, beautiful, and expensive. The appearance is either a new bangs design or a new arrangement of the three prominent cameras.

Try to distinguish the iPhones in the picture within three seconds. (Photo/Unsplash)

Famous KOL Luo Yonghao gave a very accurate summary: "There will be no difference between new and old iPhones, except for the change in the serial number."

This is not a unique "problem" of Apple. The fact is that mobile - phone innovation has reached a bottleneck. Smartphone manufacturers around the world are now deeply trapped in the quagmire of "piling up configurations, long - focal lenses, and algorithms", and the situation is getting worse.

Looking at today's new - phone press conferences, manufacturers' routines are either to pile up hardware on mobile phones, polish the decimal points of the large bezel - less screens, or play around with the design, switching between straight and rounded edges, deciding whether to keep the fingerprint sensor at will, and reducing the phone's frequency during software updates.

It's not hard to understand that as mobile phones become more and more homogeneous, netizens are voting with their feet against those old and boring phones. Whether it's the currently popular iPhone XS series or the Nokia 3210, which became a phenomenon - level digital product last year, they all show young people's attitude towards the rapid development of algorithm technology - complex algorithms cannot dominate every aspect of life, even if the pixel count of the rear camera is getting higher and higher.

Complex algorithms cannot dominate the desire to record life. (Photo/All About 4 Seasons)

However, the resonance value that can make people recall the true meaning of life has nothing to do with the once - popular old mobile phones themselves.

Every young person who is determined to use the iPhone XS to immerse themselves in a different kind of life must also bear the problems that old models usually face, such as memory crashes and battery drain. Of course, they also need to beware of being deceived when buying low - priced second - hand phones.

We must understand that there is no such thing as a so - called "divine phone" in this world. Most of the so - called "divine phones" become popular because of a specific social need.

If there is really an absolutely reliable "divine phone", it must be a "life partner" that suits your life needs. Otherwise, all the beautiful fantasies are just wishful thinking.

(Bruce in this article is a pseudonym)

References:

I was wrong. The iPhone XS is the eternal god. Good Phone Friends. March 21, 2022

I'm shocked. The Nokia 3210 was out of stock in 2024. New Weekly. May 29, 2024

The once - obsolete "junk" popularized by Xiaohongshu is really nice. Vista Outlook. October 31, 2022

Can't sell iPhones. Has Apple finally ruined itself? New Weekly. November 14, 2018

This article is from the WeChat official account "Jingzhe Youth". Author: Liang Hao, Editor: Anfield. Republished by 36Kr with permission.