Apple iPhone 2018: Top features that can help new iPhones win India

Apple is gearing for its big iPhone launch in September. But its newer iPhones need to have these long sought after features to win the Indian market.

Dual-SIM support to microSD storage, top features Indians have wanted from iPhones (Bloomberg)

Apple is set to unveil its new iPhones next month. According to rumours, Apple will be unveiling as many as three new iPhones. The new iPhones, dubbed as iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Plus aka iPhone X2 and iPhone X Plus, will be sporting iPhone X-like design and bigger screens. While there has always been a lot of buzz and hype around the new iPhones, Apple faces a daunting task of winning over the Indian market.

India emerged as the lone bright star for Apple when the West market saturated. Things, however, quickly changed when Android rivals closed in with capable phones and low prices. Apple's ultra expensive iPhone X also failed to take off in India. According to a Counterpoint report, Apple's older iPhones outsold the newer iPhone 8 and iPhone X models.

But it's not too late for Apple. The company needs to customise its devices for the Indian market. Here are some of the top features that can help iPhone 2018 models to win the Indian market.

Dual SIM
Two SIM functionality may not be a big feature in the West, but for India, it's been pretty much standard on Android phones for years. Even Samsung's new and super premium Galaxy Note 9 comes with dual-SIM functionality. Of late, a lot of Android phones have launched in India with dual 4G VoLTE support.

Apple has long been rumoured to add dual SIM support on its iPhones, but evidently it has never rolled out. Ahead of iPhone 2018 launch, new rumours suggest Apple may finally embrace twin SIM support for at least two of its models in select regions.

Selfie camera
Even though Apple has improved its selfie game over the years, it is yet to offer all of the features that are available on a ₹10,000 Android smartphone. For instance, Xiaomi's Redmi Y2 offers 16-megapixel camera with Artificial Intelligence and India-optimised beautification mode. In terms of specifications, Redmi Y2 has 4500k soft-toned selfie light, bokeh effect powered by AI, Beautify 4.0 and ƒ/2.0 large aperture, 79.8-degree wide-angle lens. Apple's iPhone 8 is marginally better with a 7-megapixel sensor, retina flash, ƒ/2.2 aperture, and auto HDR.

microSD
One of the biggest strengths of Android phones has been the flexibility to expand storage through microSD slots. Even if a smartphone has lesser 32GB or 64GB built-in storage, microSD cards allow users to expand storage where they can keep their offline content, including photos and videos. iPhone users often grapple with limited on-board storage and even the iCloud storage. While Google Photos and Drive are some of the alternatives keep the data backed up, a lot of people still want their content offline on their phone.

Large battery
Not that iPhones deliver poor battery life, but modern Android phones have a lot more mAh capacity onboard. Some phones like Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro and Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 are capable of lasting more than a day despite heavy usage. With fast internet availability increasing in India, people are spending more time watching videos, browsing and battery-hogging apps like Facebook and Google Maps. Apple iPhone 2018 models need to be ready for this increasing number of consumers who have higher on-screen time than ever before.

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