Six features that Apple is shamelessly sleeping on

Every phone manufacturer gets its fair share of criticism for its phones, but Apple is probably at the top of that list, especially regarding features. The company is well known for holding back on features that have been long available on the Android side of the market, and many, including me, have not been happy about that.

In light of the recent announcement of Apple’s new, more budget option, the iPhone 16e, I was quickly reminded of how annoyingly conservative iPhones can be.

It’s not a hard task to come up with a list of features that Apple has been sleeping on for years, but I wanted to put the ones I think are highest on that list in one place. These will not be in any particular order, and I will probably miss some (remind me in the comments!). That said, the lack of each feature I will list below has made me pull my hair more than once while using an iPhone.

1. It’s crazy… but a “Back” button

If you’ve ever used an iPhone, then you know what I am talking about. I would really love to hear from Apple a clear explanation of why there is still no consistent way to go back from whatever screen you are in. What makes this even more frustrating is that the default gesture—swiping from the far left of the screen to the far right—works just often enough for you to get used to it and BAM! All of a sudden, you come across an app that doesn’t function the same way, leaving you bamboozled.

Sometimes, the only option to go back is an arrow or an “X” button at the top left corner, making you twist your hand or use your other one just to exit that screen. This shouldn’t even be a “feature,” but it really starts to feel like one when you go back and forth between iOS and Android.

2. A number row in the keyboard

On Android, you have visibility and quick access to additional symbols and all numbers, available to you via a longpress. You can even adjust how quickly these appear by regulating the amount of time you need to longpress a letter. This feature gives me a sense of ease every time I go back to Android, and one that I sorely miss when using an iPhone.

Not to mention that Apple already offers a similar feature on iPadOS, and I particularly like how you don’t long-press there, but pull down on the letter instead. So why is this still not a thing on iOS?

Of course, you do have the option to download third-party keyboards like Gboard, but all of them seem to have only half the functionality of their Android counterparts.

And speaking of writing on an iPhone, while I enjoy the cursor's smooth control when you long-press “space”, I prefer the accuracy of tapping between two letters when I want to do a correction. It sometimes drives me nuts how the iPhone highlights the whole word instead of just placing the cursor where I want it.

3. Fast charging

This is something that Samsung and Google are also to blame for, but Apple is the worst as far as charging speeds go. I am specifically talking about wired charging here, which maxes out at 25W for even the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max.

What makes it worse is that we know that these Pro iPhones are capable of more than those speeds, as they maxed out at around 39W during our charging tests. The thing is that Apple enables those speeds only when the phones are running an intense task, and it's done to avoid slowing down the charging process.

With these speeds, it took us approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes to charge an iPhone 16 Pro. In contrast, a Motorola Edge (2024) took us only 39 minutes to charge, despite the fact that it has a considerably larger battery and therefore stores more energy.

4. Higher screen refresh rate

Yes, everyone saw this one coming from a mile away, but it’s so basic that it just has to be here. Let it be known that in 2025, we still don’t have a non-Pro iPhone with a screen refresh rate higher than 60Hz…

Phone enthusiasts are well aware of this fact and waste no time ridiculing iPhones for it, but remember that many non-tech savvy users probably still don’t know what a screen refresh rate even is, let alone want it. So, that is why I am putting it in this list — we need smoother displays on those $800 iPhones! Heck, even Apple’s new iPhone 16e which goes for $600 could use one.

5. Fingerprint scanner

Apple is not known for returning features that it’s dropped, but there is one that it should: a fingerprint scanner. Face ID is great, but I don’t think it should be a full-fledged replacement for fingerprint scanners. For example, I like to run in the cold, and when it's really cold I run with a face mask that covers everything besides my eyes. In those circumstances, the iPhone fails to recognize me, so I have to enter my code every time I want to do something with the phone.

This isn’t even a feature that would be difficult for Apple to reintroduce, so there’s zero reason it shouldn’t be available on the iPhone.

6. Give my 3D Touch back!

3D Touch was arguably my favorite feature Apple has ever introduced to the iPhone. Maybe because it came out with the iPhone 6s, which is my favorite from the ones I've owned, but it felt intuitive, and I used it often. Yes, now you can just long-press, but it’s somehow less responsive, and I even forget to use it when navigating apps or the phone’s UI, which wasn’t the case with 3D Touch.

This was one feature that made iPhones stand out, at least for me, which is why it’s sad that it’s probably never coming back.

Apple’s clever but annoying strategy

Apple famously likes to take things slow, and the explanation given to us throughout the years is that the company wants to offer something better than the competition before introducing a new feature. Of course, that is just marketing talk. The truth is that by delaying the release of features like the ones on this list, Apple makes sure that it has something new to show in the coming years.

But what’s even smarter about this approach is that Apple doesn’t have to do the research required for innovative new features. All it has to do is improve the ones that are created by other companies, potentially saving precious time and money for R&D. Meanwhile, you have companies coming up with wild things like a phone that can unfold into a tablet, extremely fast charging speeds, batteries made of new materials and more.

But the features I have listed here are more or less essential, and there are plenty more niche ones that other phones have. There’s Samsung’s anti-reflective coating on the Galaxy Ultra series, or OnePlus 13’s IP69 rating and parallel processing, so what are the features you think Apple is sleeping on? Tell us in the comments.