Why would you spend > $1000 on a mobile phone?
https://stratechery.com/2018/the-iphone-franchise/
The answer turned out to be pretty simple:
"Apple wouldn’t go down-market, nor did its customers want it to."
The final conclusion seals the deal further:
"Some people buy an iPhone every year; some are on a two-year cycle; others wait for screens to crack, batteries to die, or apps to slow. Nearly all, though, buy another iPhone, making the purpose of yesterday’s keynote less an exercise in selling a device and more a matter of informing self-selected segments which device they will ultimately buy, and for what price."
I'm not spending $1000 on a phone, I'm spending $1000 on a very small and portable (admittedly not quite pro-level) video camera that works well enough in a wide range of light conditions and noise environments.
I bought some used recording equipment that’s probably 10 years old for $200, it’s miles ahead of what my smartphone can do.
No you definitely don't need. You want!
Now then.. how come you/I/anyone ends up wanting a $1000 phone? Marketing? Vanity? Riches beyng sense? Need for portable computing power? Need to constantly have with you 5000 photos, 5000 songs, 50 movies?
> No you definitely don't need. You want!
That's a weird way to start an argument, because I definitely don't need a $1000 tshirt. In fact, a quick tally suggests that my entire wardrobe cost slightly less than $1000 (retail value, not present value).
My X gives me better integration between my MBP, iPad, and AirPods. Siri is actually somewhat usable now, though it has room for improvements. I use it quite a bit while driving to "read" and respond to text messages, and I almost always have my AirPods in while driving. I drive a Jeep, without doors, and I've noticed some hearing damage that I attribute to the wind noise at highway speeds. My AirPods mean I can listen to podcasts or music without cranking the volume so high that people can hear it in their houses next to the road.
It's neat that my iPhone has so much processing power, but I rarely use it. The camera is good enough that I don't feel I have to carry my dedicated camera with me on a daily basis anymore, but when I do, I occasionally transfer my photos from it to my phone to post something on Instagram or upload through Lightroom to a shared gallery. I do all of my photo post-processing in Lightroom on my iPad, and usually have it with me.
At the end of the day, though, it's purely a luxury item. I like having good tools, and I make enough money to buy some. The difference in satisfaction for me between using my old S7 Edge and the iPhone X is enough to justify the cost to me.
And that was a year or more ago.
Consequently there's lots of semi-limited access state highways that have the occasional stop light and 45-55mph speed limits giving you plenty of opportunities to enjoy fast 0-60 acceleration. Also, the ability to just move left and almost instantly be going 30+mph faster is great when the person in front of you insists on merging at 35mph (you can go around them WITHOUT cutting someone else off). Or if you are that 35mph merger you can take your sweet ass time finding the perfect spot and then just step on it and merge without the guy you merged in front of (who's probably going 70+mph) having to tap their brakes.
Yes, it's a luxury but the capability is more useful day to day than most people think.
Updates: Its lesser powered successor, the Moto G6 (no + in the U.S.) runs Android 8. The G5+ certainly could. Moto's X4 has the same 630 CPU along with a GB less RAM and, I've read, will be advanced to Pie. The G5+ could be, if Moto chose to do so.
Camera. Take one of these "budget" models, and add $50 or even $100 to the price to put in a top-notch camera. I'd buy it. I don't need CPU "up the wazoo", nor a super-whatever bezel-less display (a good IPS is enough, for me); however, I would like to take really good pictures. (Really good, less the "AI" stuff -- and its cost -- that I'm not asking for; rather, top notch optics and sensor.)
I really don't need, nor even want, a $1000 phone. Only, the manufacturers refuse to make some modest upgrades to the lower tier models -- because money, I guess.
It also, in my opinion, reflects the lack of real competition in this space. In a truly competitive market, I believe my "market segment" would be found to be far from trivial and so worth pursuing.
Hell, with a generation older CPU and such tech (I don't know about cameras), all the tech is well known, has stable drivers and all, and is probably more easily supported. Should be a no-brainer, at this point -- except, well, money.
P.S. I haven't had the models in-hand, to compare, but putting together all I've read on them, I gather that both the G6 and the X4 have worse cameras than the G5+ . The G5+ camera isn't bad, but it doesn't perform nearly as well -- in detail, low-light, and some edge cases -- as the top-tier cameras -- even those of a generation or two ago.
You're never not ever going to get the latest technology/functionality in a low margin device--because return on investment, I guess.
Pixel 1's are below $300, I understand, and I'd be reasonably happy with one, except I believe their support window is about done. (Last Google phone with a headphone jack, to boot, IIRC. On the other hand, lesser storage capacity and no microSD support; microSD support is very nice, with my G5+.)
$1000 is a lot for a phone, but for a device people use so often is it too much? I'm not so sure.
The more relevant question isn't whether or not a $1000 phone is "worth the cost" (or "needed"), but whether or not the overall prices of Apple's phone lineups make sense. Given their sales figures over the years it's hard to say that they are overcharging for their phones, even now.
I didn't choose the above attitude consciously per se, but thinking about it in retrospect, I'm comfortable with it. I have a lot of product-category-choices that make little sense to someone unwilling to spend $1000 on a phone: wool underwear, an Onyx Boox Max 2 (wonderful device), an Urbit star. I don't spend money pragmatically.
Ha, what? Now I'm intrigued. What kind??
That's probably why most people don't mind paying that much. They see their phones as their personal computer and don't need an actual desktop, or even notebook anymore. And a phone delivers a lot of extra value like the camera. A high-end GPU alone could be seen as luxury and some of their MSRP are already over $800.
Nor is there any accounting for taste. Looked at purely logically, it is absurd to spend 1K on a phone. Humans aren't always logical. We don't need a 1K phone, some people just want one.
This is a big problem with android. Performance sucks overall, and like windows, degrade over time. The quality of apps is not there.
And also, android is the worst if you care a bit about privacy and security.
When you must decide between a clear superior product (iPhone) vs a overall inferior (except if you take a lot of care in researching, have luck or expend almost the same money) and have a tight budget? Go for the best, because we don't have money to waste money. ---
BTW: My policy is buy the previous model when needed, so I still not expend that much neither waste money with android.
Really for me it's just a nice to have though. A few years ago I got by with a Lumia 520, I'm sure I could live with a $100 Android phone if the cost were an issue. But I use my phone a lot so it's worth it for me.
Otherwise a 200 Dollar phone is likely more than enough. Actually, since I buy laptops used, my phone nearly costs three times as much as my refurbished dell XPS 14"
I started out with a flip phone. That was adequate until somebody showed me the many advantages of a smart phone-- primarily the web browser, which brings weather, news, etc. etc.
I don't need a $1k phone, but I do feel I benefit a lot from a smartphone.
Especially for friends who rely on photos for their jobs / side projects, it is a huge difference comparing pictures from a Google Pixel / iPhone X and phone models from a few years ago.
* I needed the performance of a $1000 device. For example, if I did a significant portion of my work from my phone, I'd consider it a worthwhile investment.
* I had enough disposable income and wanted a particular ~$1000 device
* I wanted it, had a credit card, and no financial or common sense.
I like the future idea that phones become such a throw away item you can buy them from vending machines with instant service.
but yeah I wouldn't be buying it without sal sac.
Truly an amazing off the shelf Walmart phone, a breath of fresh air from my throttled iphone5
Do I want to have a nice phone that is a bit of a luxury good from an ecosystem that I'm a fan of? Yes.
No one is making anyone buy a $1000 phone, but why not if you want to?
Regardless, what other people do with their money isn't your problem.
I work for BigCo make almost six figures (real dollars in a moderate cost of living area, not SV funny money dollars) so it's not like I couldn't afford better if I wanted. I do all my own work so maintenance is basically free. I have other things I'd rather spend my money on.
I'm probably gonna buy a small pickup this January (when everyone else is short on cash from all the traveling and gift buying they did in November/December) because I want a middle ground between the wagons and the full-size truck. I might buy a minivan if I can find an Aerostar with a manual transmission.