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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?
Very true. Even though it cost Apple only around $200 to make my iPhone, I never felt like I overpaid to it when I use it, or when I compare it to other more affordable phones out there (I own a few Androids for development work). The problem is that in practice we tend to replace our phones fairly often. I can justify spending $600 every 2 years or so (the old phone will still be worth a couple 100), but $1200? That pro model would have to be waaaay better than their regular phones; just having a faster processor or a somewhat better screen won't be worth it. And I am afraid that Apple knows this. So they might be tempted to add whatever cool new feature they come up with to their flagship pro model first in order to entice us to buy that one, even if they could easily add those features to the regular models as well. It's not a matter of "what Apple could do in a phone with a higher price", it's not about cost or engineering, but about marketing. And when marketing is applied ruthlessly, we all know who loses...
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
I would, but because in the grand scheme of my life, $1200 doesn't really amount to much concidering how much utility I get from my phone. It's my newest awesome camera, my GPS device, my monitoring tool for both my home and business, my portable music player, my mobile browser, etc.... I use it to check on my finances, so much so I almost never sign into mobile banking anymore, the app is too convenient with TouchID. It's my eBay browser, my Amazon shopping tool, my main method of corresponding by email, my texting tool and my.... well, my phone. Why wouldn't I want it to be the absolute best it can be? Seriously I get more use from my phone than my car, and that I pay WAY more for, not including the per mile costs to run the damn thing. $1200 for a phone? Duh.