Apple iPhones are falling behind… but it’s not about AI

Since inception, smartphones have been on a mission — to become the pocket computers that cover all our digital needs. For the most part, they can do that — you can write an email on a phone; you can open and read websites on a phone; you can binge YouTube and Netflix… on a phone.

So, what’s the reason we turn to laptops and desktop computers? Simple — the workflow that a big device gives us. A bigger screen allows for more webpage tabs to be open and juggled conveniently. A big, physical keyboard is much more convenient for prolonged typing, naturally. The way the desktop is laid out is much more convenient for multi-tasking.

And, for an actually healthy work process… looking forward at a screen in front of you is much better than looking down at a smartphone screen. Just ask your neck about it.

Duh, obviously, right?

But let’s not take away from smartphones. They now have processors that can rival entry-level laptops. They have high-quality apps that allow you to create and edit a lot of social media presence material straight from your phone. And I do know a couple of people in my life that don’t even own a computer. But, more to the point, they own their own business, and do promote said business online entirely through their smartphones.

So, we are halfway there — what’s next?

Foldable smartphones set out to solve one of the challenges of the smartphone workflow, and that’s display size. Not only to see things in bigger form, but to be able to juggle 2, 3, or 5 apps at a time.

And that process is still ongoing, with manufacturers coming up with more ways to make multi-tasking convenient. Oppo and OnePlus have the “Open Canvas” mode, which allows you to juggle 4 apps on screen, quickly switching between which one is displayed in full with just a tap.



The latest Honor Magic V5 has something similar in the form of “Three app multi-tasking”, where the three apps are laid out horizontally on screen. You can have all of them full-screened, and you scroll from one to the other by tapping on the left or right side of the screen.

That’s all well and good. But what if you don’t want a foldable? Either due to the form factor, fragility, or price. Well, that’s fine, because the future lies elsewhere.

The future is in Desktop Experience

Credit given where credit is due — Samsung locked in on the mobile future 8 years ago, when it launched Galaxy S8 with the DeX station. That’s right, back then, DeX wasn’t an autonomous software feature in the phone, you had to actually carry around a small dock with you. It had fans to keep the phone cool, and connections to keep it charged.

Since then, DeX has evolved. Nowadays, you can plug an external monitor into a Galaxy S25 or Galaxy Z Fold 7 via the USB C port, then connect a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and you get a full-blown desktop experience on the monitor.



It’s still powered by Android, so it has some quirks, specifically when it comes to copying and editing text, or how the mouse pointer works. But it’s workable.

I’ve been talking up DeX for some years, and even though I see a lot of skepticism, you can also find comments online by people that enjoy it. Students are one example, but there are also professionals that are on the move and enjoy the fact that all their files and work projects are on their phone, so they can just plug in and work from anywhere with little pause.



And there’s even a new class of product out now — a sort of “Shell of a laptop” that has no hardware inside. It’s a screen, keyboard, and touchpad, all designed to be paired with your Samsung phone and run DeX. What’s the benefit? It can be cheaper and lighter, and if you find yourself working more from the phone than a computer, it makes sense.

Google has caught on

It took some years, but Google finally paid attention to DeX. With Android 16, Pixel devices (Pixel 8 and up) are getting Desktop Mode. It does what it says on the tin, and operates much like DeX — plug in a monitor and go.

Unfortunately, it seems to be a Pixel-exclusive feature at the moment. My hope is that it will eventually be unlocked as a general Android feature for all phones. Obviously, there will probably be hardware limitations, but if you have a higher tier Android phone, you should be able to run it, I’d hope.

Where is Apple in this?

Apple is pretty slow to cave and allow its devices to do more than “that one thing”. Look no further than the story of iPads to confirm.

The first iPad Pro launched in 2015 as an extra-expensive, extra-large iPad. And the only thing it could do with that large canvas? Slide Over and Split View, which were very limited ways of split-screen multi-tasking. Not only are they — to this day — not supported by all apps, but they only let you snap windows to specific sizes and specific places on screen.

Then, in 2022, Apple had to invent a whole new way of having floating windows on-screen, called Stage Manager. And, again, it wasn’t great, as windows still had to lock in specific sizes. It took until 2023 for Stage Manager to become free-floating and usable.



And yes, today, I can go to work with just an iPad Pro, plug in one of the docks that are connected to a monitor, mouse, and keyboard, and do my work as an author at PhoneArena. The future is now! And, just like Samsung DeX on the tablets, an iPad can run the Stage Manager UI autonomously — you don’t need an external monitor, just go into Stage Manager and use the multi-window mode however you please.

But what about the iPhone?

The history of the iPhone is not much different. The first “Plus” model was the iPhone 6 Plus with a 5.5-inch screen. It doesn’t sound big by today’s standards, but keep in mind it had a 16:9 aspect ratio, so it was a pretty wide 5.5-inch screen. It became even bigger when the iPhone XS Max launched in 2018.

But those big screens only underlined one thing — the iPhone supported no split screen or floating windows, in an age when Samsung, LG (you are missed), Sony, and others had it as a default, no-big-deal feature.

It took all the way to 2020 for Apple to finally include Picture-in-Picture video for iPhones. Hey, it’s not much, but it’s something. At least you can binge Apple TV or your favorite YouTube channel (is it PhoneArena?) while doing other stuff on that 6.5-inch screen.

So, with this tempo, it’ll be about 2027 or 2030 before the iPhone gets a Stage Manager mode. Especially since the focus right now is to actually develop and implement the AI features that were promised for, but not delivered in, March 2025.

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