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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?
But I wouldn't be surprised if the legions of apple fans would pay nearly any amount for one.
Betteridge's law of headlines is true!
What it's like to own an Apple product - The Oatmeal
Seems wiser to stick to a cellular phone which the foolish call "dumb". ;)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
I wouldn't buy it at $200, why would I buy it at $1,200?
"Would You Buy the iPhone 8 If It Cost $1,200? " ...and they were much less powerful then.
Sure!
I bought a PC when it cost 10.000$, when it cost 5000$ when it cost 2000$
No, I would not buy the iPhone.
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.
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.
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.
You mean like a headphone jack?
"I'd like to see what Apple can do in a phone with a higher price."
Remove even more ports?
Is the summary correct, is he claiming that you can do "more" if you don't mass produce something??? If Apple wanted to add some more exotic technology, they could simply lower their industry leading profit margin and instead of selling a $220 device for $650 they could sell a $400-$500 device for $800 or something like that.
To answer the question, I only have an iPhone (6 Plus) because my work provides it for development and although I am free to use it as a personal phone, I prefer a $200 Xiaomi Mi5 as it can do so much more. And Android is by far not my ideal mobile OS either (I still miss my Maemo/Meego N9 - damn you Stephen Elop for burying it), but I still find an Android phone more useful than an iOS one, even if I get the latter for free. So, no, $1200 would make it even more unlikely for me to get an iPhone. Which is a shame, as the apps that exist for both iOS and Android are most of the time better on iOS (for rather obvious - to devs at least - reasons), but there are many things you simply cannot do.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
I know that apple stuff is expensive but $150?
According to www.apple.com
Apple 12W iPhone charger costs $19.95. Perhaps you were confusing it with a MacBook charger?
I'd rather be riding my '63 Triumph T120.
I wouldn't buy it for any price, really. It isn't the functionality or the hardware, but the fact that you are tied into only ever using Apple's app store etc etc - plus the fact that you have to actually BUY the development tools and learn yet another languages, when the Android comes without the same degree of tie-in, plus you can download the whole development kit for free and it is Java, a language that actually has applications outside the phone. In a way, it isn't the iPhone that I don't want, it is Apple.
I wish Apple would add a mouse pointer to iOS (plus a trackpad to the keyboard covers, and a docking station w/ a couple of regular old USB ports of course, not a single Unobtainium connector). If you want to use your phone or tablet as a full blown workstation, this is an essential feature. I'm at work now messing with a Surface Pro, and it copes quite well with the touchscreen and mouse combination. Maybe Apple can do what MS did and just run OSX on their high end phones, and change the OS so it runs apps as well.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Personally I wouldn't buy an iPhone for 1/3rd of that price. A better question is: If you bought an iPhone at $600 would you buy one for $1200.
... like making me fly, giving me the body of a well-trained Ryan Gosling and making all good looking girls wanting to have sex with me I would consider buying it for that price.
Other than that: No.
Just got a Moto G5 Plus. Still a compromise. I wanted a 6"+ phablet with massive battery live, rugged case, stock android and uncastrated memory. Huawei Mate 9 and Xiaomi Mi Max came resonably close to those specs but I steered clear for various resons. The Moto G5 Plus but it's the best compromise. 32GB storage, 3GB RAM, good camera, near stock android. Common and as such cases and protective glas easyly available. 280 Euros. Close to the maximum I'm willing to spend on a smartphone. I would've stuck with my Moto G2, but it only has 8GB memory - which is a drag.
Given that, at the current rate, I replace my phone roughly every 3 years spending 1200€ would be a waste of money.
My 2 eurocents.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
I would not like it here or there.
I would not like it anywhere.
I do not like the iPhone look
I do not like it, Timmy Cook.
(and yes, that third line works better with Macbook, but sadly they didn't bring out a new model in the past decade and I grew tired waiting for it)
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Nobody has seen an iPhone 8. Nobody knows what it does. Therefore nobody knows what it would be worth.
Asking me if I would pay $1,200 for a phone, when I have never seen it, when I have never used it, when nobody can tell me what it does? That's a nonsense question.
Even if apple were to give me the next iPhone for free, or pay me $1,200 to take it, I wouldn't. I never really liked the iPhone. I never really liked apple products. Well, mainly apple OSs - their choice of hardware is normally pretty good, even if it if overpriced.
That said, I'd have to seriously consider paying out that amount of money for an Android phone. In the past I've paid around $800, and that was also a fairly serious consideration. Having paid out that amount, I expect the phone to last me many years before I need to upgrade. The hardware is still good and I've no issues there -- however, if I want Android O then I'll need a new phone. If I had to pay $1,200 or more, I would expect it to last several more years, and for the OS to be upgraded for many more years. And that's probably not likely for either OS.
apple do have a better track record for updating old devices, so apple people may be more likely to pay out that amount. Plus, historically, apple people have been more inclined to pay bigger bucks for the devices -- even to the point of selling a kidney to get one. So I'd almost wager that they could set any price on it and the majority would pay it to upgrade -- even if this year's model was only a minor improvement over last year's. The iPhone could end up being a textbook case of a Giffen good (where demand rises with price).
I'm reminded of a story, but I can't find it online, where a shop owner asked the assistant to mark down several ugly statues from $15 to $10 in order to sell them out. The assistant made a mistake and priced them all at $100, and they all sold out that day. Many people will associate higher prices with a better product, and will see identical products differently depending on the price.
Do a little fucking soul searching about not spending $xxxx on a phone?
You're scary, man. If I had that spare cash I could get one hell of a nice used oscilloscope.
This is still Slashdot, I think. All you people who "went into IT because it pays good" better watch out, because you're on the list for replacement.
Pseudo-elitist dreams of being slightly more elitist without having to leave their conformist comfort zone.
what he really means is 'every kid on the block has an iphone these days, I pine for when I felt more special, so make a more expensive model so I can separate myself from the unwashed masses again (but actually I am a closet conformist, so it needs to be from my regular supplier, work in the same way - so please just make it cost more so I can buy myself a bit more 'special'..).
Believing that Apple is somehow constrained by price or volume is laughably laughable, they already delivery less for more and have demonstrated a willingness to have availability shortages (in fact historically have done it with a sense of pride during notable releases).
[Stands back to watch the koolaid drinkers backlash against reality]
Apple, you want to charge more for your product, because you feel constrained as to what you can do with a phone? The last time you felt constrained you removed the headphone jack. And that's but one "feature" (out of dozens) users never asked for.
Hundreds of billions sitting in offshore tax havens, already obscene profit margins, and you feel the need to charge even more. This flavor of Greed is only matched by the stupidity of customers willing to pay that much for your product. Sadly, I'm certain the lines will be longer than ever on release day.
No, but I'm sure some idiot would.
My problem is not price but value-for-money. It's not there in Apple products, reflected in their ludicrously high margins. They aren't giving you anywhere near the value that the devices and associated services cost.
But Samsung aren't much better. I wouldn't touch any of their top-range smart phones either. And I can't see why my S5 mini is basically an S5 WITHOUT USB host functionality. Basically everything else is identical, but a software / TINY hardware change, makes things not work on the Mini for no real discernible reason.
But I factored that into my value analysis when I bought it. It's not worth paying extra, for a screen that I think is too big, just to get USB host. In similar terms of what I actually want to do on the phone, Apple doesn't even get a look-in. Never has.
But I'm sure there are people out there with money to burn, because EVERY new model of smartphone has people who buy it by the truckload, which is just unfathomable to me. Most of them don't use it for anything more than a quick snap, checking Facebook, and texting their friends. Hell, I've met people who barely use 5% of the functions / apps on their phone, or even know what they do (e.g. introducing people to using Map apps as a satnav etc.).
Why you'd pay that money for a device you don't even understand the basic capabilities of, I can't work out. It's like buying a Ferrari sports car when you can't even drive a Fiat Panda or have never heard of air-conditioning. You do it entirely for the show.
Phones drop, get ruined by water and are obsolete after a year. I don't mind spending money for a durable object, but I don't want to agonize about dangling my phone over the side of a boat to take photos. Will reconsider if and when there are inexpensive repairs and upgrades available.
Yes, if the $1200 model is the iPhone I like best, and I may buy more for family members too. I want a company that takes security seriously, that controls the entire product from the hardware up (no security if you don't) , that can update the software it provides without asking my cell carrier for permission, that is willing to stand up to the FBI, and, yes, that vets every app I download. I consider the last a valuable service; you may not. $1200 over two or maybe three years is dirt cheap compared to what I am getting.
Problem being is IF you get a fancy phone, quite a few others will also want your fancy phone. I seem to recall a commercial a couple of years ago about a person being mugged and they gave his phone back to him (hilarious). I kind of like that idea that others would not be interested in wanting my phone even if they stole it.
or a removable battery?
or a modern interface?
I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
The problem is not that I'd pay $1200 for an iPhone 8. The problem is my wife will.
John
Maybe it's time to upgrade to iWife 2.
With technology improving the way it is, you might soon be able to ditch the iWife and get an Android in your bed.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
No. Just no.
I love technology, but I'm not willing to pay anywhere near close to that for what is essentially a disposable device. I typically buy a new phone when the one I'm using doesn't do what I need it to do. I have a Honor 5X that I bought about a year and a half ago for $110. It sends texts, emails, takes pictures, and works fine for basic web browsing. The battery is still good condition so it may last another 1.5 years. You can keep a li-ion battery in "good shape" by keeping the charge between 30-85% and only full charging when you absolutely have a need to like traveling, etc. A phone is a tool, and unless there is a new version/device that will improve my productivity or is much more functional then there is no need to upgrade as long as it is operational. I treat everything this way. It's the reason I drove my last vehicle for 14 years. Yes it had some rust, etc. but it was functional, why waste money on an unneeded vehicle upgrade when it could be used elsewhere with better long term results?