Do you like your phone less now?
Hearing about a tech upgrade can make you feel less happy with your current version.
When I heard the other day that Apple was releasing a new iPhone soon, I didn’t think much about it. But I did think about a fascinating psychological effect that the news may be having on iPhone users.
A 2022 study called it the next effect and here’s how it works: Simply knowing that something newer is coming in the future makes you like the current version of it less.
In one experiment, volunteers played a video game. When a group of participants heard that a sequel to the video game was forthcoming, they reported that the present game was buggy and less enjoyable.
Here’s a snippet from the paper explaining why our perception of the present changes when we learn about a future upgrade:
Mere awareness of future improvement led participants to experience present versions as less enjoyable—despite being new to them, and despite being identical across conditions. They even bid more money to be able to end their participation early. Why? Such knowledge led these participants to perceive more flaws in present versions than they would have perceived without such knowledge—as if prompted to infer that there must have been something to improve upon (or else, why was a better one needed in the first place?)—thus creating a less enjoyable experience.
In announcing the new iPhone—the iPhone 16—the company described it as an upgrade with “powerful, efficient performance,” improved camera features, and built-in artificial intelligence capabilities. Because of the next effect, anyone with an iPhone 15 or older may be feeling a little less thrilled about their existing device, simply because they heard about the iPhone 16.
The study hinted at how the next effect could apply beyond technology. For instance, if someone is working on improving themselves through exercise or studying, “they may also become more sensitive to present flaws and so feel continually unsatisfied” because the better future state is known.
Which reminds me: I’m sending a new edition of this newsletter next Sunday, but I hope that doesn’t lessen your enjoyment of this current one.
Eric