Nothing CEO Pei gives his thoughts about the iPhone 15 line and other Apple devices

Nothing CEO Carl Pei, who also was one of the co-founders of OnePlus, had some comments to make following last week's Apple Wonderlust event that unveiled the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max, the Apple Watch Series 9, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Pei, who has the best "X" username of all time (@getpeid) as we've mentioned before, made his comments on an official Nothing video shared on YouTube.

First, we have to agree with Pei when he says that these events were better when they were held before a live audience. If you've ever taken the time to view the original iPhone unveiling hosted by the late Steve Jobs back in January 2007, you can see that the live audience added to the excitement of the occasion. Pei says that with the live audience, Jobs was able to use showmanship as a way to excite the live audience and that these things don't work when the event is pre-recorded.

Discussing the new iPhone 15 line, Pei says that the biggest change this year is the replacement of the Lightning port with the USB-C port. What does the Nothing CEO think about this move? "Overall it's a win for the tech ecosystem," he says, "but I just hope that the EU goes one step further and really homogenizes USB-C standard." 

As you might know, the EU passed a law requiring that in its 27 member countries, new electronic devices must use USB-C for charging. Not wanting to deal with making different iPhone models for the EU and elsewhere, Apple decided to change over to USB-C with its 2023 models. Pei said that Apple was waiting to change over to USB-C because the proprietary Lightning port was used by Apple as a way to make it a little harder for iPhone users to switch to Android.

Pei said that besides the USB-C port, there are other ways in which Apple is, in his opinion, being anti-competitive. He points out that there are several features that work only on an iPhone such as AirDrop. Pei says that this is not secret as emails made public during various lawsuits show Apple executives discussing ways to lock iPhone users into its ecosystem. The executive says that requiring Apple products to run Apple-devised features is clever since it limits competition. "As the most valuable tech company in the world, you should be able to compete on other things," Carl said.

Pei says that the titanium build of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro models will deliver benefits in terms of weight and durability. He said that a tech fan like him would be excited by the use of titanium while the average guy would be unable to tell the difference between titanium, steel or aluminum.

The Nothing CEO said that he respects Apple because the company is constantly refining all aspects of the iPhone ("slowly," he added). One feature that he doesn't find exciting is the addition of the action button to replace the mute switch. While Pei correctly points out that the action button is not new, he says that Apple probably has data showing that the mute switch was not being used often.

Pei thinks that the action button will eventually be used as a shortcut for an AI-powered Super Siri. Now that would be a big deal! Carl also has been a fan of the iPhone's cameras and says that Apple continually throws resources at the feature to improve photography on the device.

With the Apple Watch Ultra 2, he says that a lot of his friends bought the device but he isn't sure how popular it is. The executive believes that many purchase the timepiece because it is the most expensive model and it has become a status symbol.

While praising Apple for being innovative, he doesn't see the Vision Pro taking us from smartphones to wearing a headset all day. He also said that the spatial computer category won't be one that consumers in general focus on anytime soon.

In the video, Pei admits that he is not a smartwatch fan and to emphasize this he shows his bare wrists to the camera. Back in June, a tipster thought that he spotted a trademark filing for a Nothing smartwatch and found a listing for Nothing under the smartwatch category on a certification website for India. Nothing has come from Nothing indicating that a smartwatch is in the works.