From the very beginning of its existence, humanity has always wanted its desires to be fulfilled, whether or not they reflect reality. Keep this idea in mind once more after you finish reading this article. So what exactly is “reality”? I know this has been kind of an odd question, but believe me, the answer is quite simple. If you are questioning this, even while you are questioning the simple things in life, you have already known the answer. I mean, everything starts with questioning. Why do we always feel the need to possess something unique? Maybe, we misunderstood the word “unique”. Nowadays, you can clearly guess that millions of people are not asking these questions to themselves. People do love shopping. People love to have brand-new things, especially that are currently trending, for example, having mobile phones.

The population of the world is approximately 8.3 billion. Did you know that iPhone users make up around 18% of this population? Of course, if we think only that this rate is very few behind the entire. There are many well-known brands but this one is preferred most. For instance, Samsung, one of the largest smartphone companies, still remains below that level, and approximately have 12% users under all population while Apple reaches more and drives the process continuously.

Having an opinion such that the iPhone is better because it is a quality brand and has better technology would not exactly answer the doubts in your mind. Sometimes, technology might not be a changeable term. If we look at big companies, they have the same technology qualifications. In truth, due to market dynamics, companies sometimes hold back their most advanced technologies and release them gradually over the following years. Unless this system occurred, they would probably release the real current technology in the race between themselves. However, this has not occurred nowadays. Thus, they use another powerful tool: shaping perception over customers. Imagine you are in a restaurant, and you place in order, for example, a slice of cake. Although your order’s taste has been quite good, you will not be pleased enough unless it is served in an appealing and attractive way according to human psychology. Their major behavior is making some illusion while serving the cake, and Apple is the best at this job.

There are several interesting topics that Apple makes such illusion techniques as camera illusion (idealized self-image), status and identity illusion (social positioning), and ecosystem illusion (psychological attachment).

Camera Illusion (Idealized Self-Image)

At present, like all major brands, Apple uses computational methods to overcome physical limits of cameras, such as lenses and sensors. Thanks to computational processing, companies can handle these boundaries.

When you press the button for taking a photo, you also start the process of enhancement behind your system at the same time. Firstly, your system takes more than one photo in milliseconds. Then, the AI analyses and collects the best details. Nevertheless, the similarity between Apple and other brands begins to disappear due to the usage of customers and real aim. The company’s vision is set over guaranteeing the best photo or video, notably on people instead of natural landspaces, animals or objects.

Moreover, Apple uses less sharpness to get rid of unwanted details, balanced HDR(High Dynamic Range), and also, softness on face tones.This would be the main reason why people choose the iPhone, and obviously, people who use iPhone often value how they see themselves in photos. In fact, we can also obtain such a result that Artificial Intelligence used behind the camera illusion of Apple is enhancing itself continuously thanks to trillions of photos and selfies from people. 

Status and Identity Illusion (Social Positioning)

When this perception is provided, the smartphone becomes not only a technological product but also a social symbol. As an example, we can see this case on cars, clothing brands and watches, too. For many years, Apple positioned itself as a premium brand, design-oriented and elite user base by selling their products more expensive than others. As a result of this positioning in some societies, owning an iPhone becomes an indicator of modernity, economical power, and technological awareness, and most of the people who are influenced by this illusion might not have those powers in real life.

Furthermore, the marketing and advertising strategies of Apple are perfect and are based on presenting what is visible. Switching between applications or during the usage of an app, would be good examples. Switching speed between applications sometimes decreases. At that moment, a planned design, creating perception, can solve this issue while the user still sees there is no problem. 

Ecosystem Illusion (Psychological Attachment)

Apple uses its own operating system called iOS for smartphones. They also use a parallel system with iOS for their notebooks, tablets, smartwatches and bluetooth earbuds. For example, data transfers between these devices would be rapid and easy. The user would not be in complexity to use the devices as parallel since she knows the way. Literally, this becomes a powerful way to attract users one by one.

However, that does not mean this is not a perception operation. After a while, people start to say “it isn’t compatible with my phone”, “the application I like is only supported by Apple”, “I bought a Macbook, but hold on..I should also have an iPhone”. Actually, all of these happen because Apple isolates itself from other brands generally. In the situation of once entering, users may think that they are rarely able to exit the system and sometimes this case can be called “ecosystem lock-in” which is a kind of a strategy for Business World. 

In conclusion, modern smartphone competition is not only about technology but also about perception, particularly over reality. These perceptions are reinforced by the company through several strategies, including camera illusion that idealizes self-image, status and identity illusion that shapes social perception, and ecosystem illusion that encourages psychological attachment to the brand.

Fear often comes from the information’s continuity and if we consider all of these from a big perspective, we will understand how scary and dangerous it is by knowing and understanding. Are people really buying the best technology, or the technology that makes them feel best? Reality can sometimes collapse under the weight of human desires, and consciousness is a meaningless phenomenon without willpower. The resistivity of human will increases by following reality.

Therefore, stay real, be real, and live purely.