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Would You Buy the iPhone 8 If It Cost $1,200? (9to5mac.com)

As we near the launch of the next iPhone, rumors are swirling about what it may feature. One of the most recent reports comes from developer and blogger John Gruber, who claims the iPhone 8 will have a starting price of around $1200. 9to5Mac reports: He last week said that he believed that what we've been referring to as the iPhone 8 would be called the iPhone Pro and that he actually hoped it would be really expensive: "I hope the iPhone Pro starts at $1500 or higher. I'd like to see what Apple can do in a phone with a higher price." As you might imagine, that generated quite a bit of discussion. Gruber has backed down somewhat from this position, and is now suggesting a starting point of around $1200: "$1,500 as a starting price is probably way too high. But I think $1,200 is quite likely as the starting price, with the high-end model at $1,300 or $1,400." His argument is effectively that Apple is constrained in what it can do in a phone because any technology included in the phone has to be available in huge volumes. If it were willing to sell fewer at a higher price, then it would have more options. There has been speculation that Gruber may have been tipped by Apple, and using his posts to prepare the ground for what would otherwise be a severe case of sticker shock. But Gruber denied this. If Apple does launch the iPhone 8 with a 4-figure price tag, would you buy it?

10 of 561 comments (clear)

  1. No way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But I wouldn't be surprised if the legions of apple fans would pay nearly any amount for one.

    1. Re:No way by CaptQuark · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Pay the same for a phone as I would for a full-featured gaming computer, including monitor? No way!!

      ---

    2. Re: No way by GrandCow · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You should probably reevaluate your outlook on life. If someones job determines if you would help them or not when they were in a life threatening situation, your brain is broken and you should probably seek some help.

      --
      "Well kids, you tried your best, and you failed. The lesson is, never try." -Homer Simpson
    3. Re:No way by Vermonter · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sorry but I would rather not have to download a specific Apple program and create an Apple account and give Apple personal info, just for the sake of putting a ringtone on my personal device. And then pay Apple an extremely high profit margin just to do it. It amazes how much Apple fans will put off with, and then make the claim "well it's just so easy and it just works". OK, well Android is also easy, and just works, and can be learned with the same amount of minimal effort that. Truth be told, Apple and Android devices are both fully functional phones. One relies heavily on proprietary software and formats and has an extremely high profit margin, the other uses industry standards and costs a lot less. You can tell me that Apple is easy to use all day long, and I won't argue the point, because it's moot.

    4. Re: No way by JonnyCalcutta · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Good for you. I do all those things on my phone as well and it cost me £150. But then I also paid £5000 for my last car and it did me well for 12 years (before I needed more room than an executive saloon could offer). Whose fault is it if you're paying over the odds for your phone AND your car?

      I like people like you - because without you I couldn't buy top of the range goods for pennies on the pound.

    5. Re: No way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      No, idiot. They steered clear because whatever boat or Suburban Assault Vehicle you were driving took up the whole lane and was more threatening to heir personal safety in the event of an accident.

      Next thing you are going to tell me is that bus or semi drivers have the highest social status because most drivers don't want to fuck with them.

  2. never by gravewax · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not a hope in hell. being locked down in their ecosystem negates the value of any significant premium hardware increases. besides which unless they have worked out something amazing in battery, holographics or such I personally can't think of much that could even be all that interesting hardware wise, gimmicky 3D or VR maybe but that would be a death sentence just like it was for 3D TV's and looking that way for VR headsets too . I don't need smaller or lighter, CPU, memory, storage, graphics are all more than adequate in most top end phones, really getting like PC's a little now where you can work quite happily on older hardware as long as it is still supported with updates.

  3. Price is only one dimension by mseeger · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If I buy something does not solely depend on the price. It also depends on the value I get from the item.

    So when asking the question, you should ask "Are those features worth X".

    I haven't seen the final list for the next iPhone yet. So I cannot say yet if it will be worth Y dollars.

    In the past, the iPhones I bought were worth every penny I paid. But be aware: the value may depend on your needs. So what may be true for me, must not be true for everyone else.

  4. Not servicable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The iPhone is not made to last, the battery cannot be replaced, it cannot be opened by a normal person and be repaired or upgraded. Apps are not better, they are made to run swiftly on older versions. You are just buying a phone with next year's specs, and after that it's just like any old phone, which will scratch, which battery will fail, which will become slower and slower. So: No.

  5. Re:That reminds me. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Good for you, but I'll keep my smart phone thanks. The minor hassle of having to charge when I'm sleeping is more than outweighed by the camera alone. Call me sentimental but I like looking at photos of my girlfriend and I having fun, or being able to add an explanatory photo to a technical email with a couple of taps.

    Being able to chat to someone on the other side of the world, in a different time zone, when it suits both of us (not just when we are both in front of a PC), and all for free is pretty valuable to me too.

    Oh, and I can post my SJW spam to Slashdot from anywhere at any time, can't forget that.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC