The success of the iPhone was never about the iPhone as a device. It is about Apple customers buying Apple products, no matter what. It's trendy to have, like that pair of Nike shoes or whatever else. It's the reason phones cost 4 digits now. If Apple can get away with it, apparently so can Samsung. A really nice PC can be had for that amount of money. The iPhone will never die as long as they keep making them.
I know a lot of people here have a bias towards PC. I to some extent too. On the other hand I am engineer and when I force myself to look more objectively I see that technologically smarthones are the most advanced devices, ahead of PCs. Only new Macs are comparable, because they are also build around smartphone hardware technology. Smartphone CPU is produced with cutting edge technology process while Intel's process is lagging behind. In terms of processing power to energy consumption ratio high end smartphones are far becohind Intel or AMD. Or space, weight to processing power ratio. Not to mention all sensors. Good camera with firmware that enables computational photography alone is a really advanced thing. Laptops before pandemic had really bad cameras. It took pandemic and WFH boom to have decent cameras in bussiness laptops... You can argue that you, specifically you, want pure processing power and nothing else, but in technological terms its is the manufacturing process that matters and in a more engineering terms having large set of high quality features despite much more limitations regarding space, weight, power consumption that matters for final, objective evaluation
True, the camera is way more advanced than anything included with a laptop, I guess it depends on how you intend to use it. Part of my gripe with the cost though is the profit margins on PCs are pretty thin, but huge on phones. You can see here that a Samsung S23 Ultra costs $469 to build and sells for $1,199. Analysis shows it costs $469 to make the Galaxy S23 Ultra (9to5google.com)
So no software engineering wages (I could be wrong on that), no cost of licensing patents, no distribution, no taxes, no credit or share interest (I could be wrong on that also), no marketing, no profit for 3rd party shops accounted I guess
It would amount to some, but still leaves a healthy profit margin. Far more than the $1 per unit Dell has claimed for some of their PCs. The only employee making any real money is the CEO. Though it has been a while since any Foxconn employees jumped off the roof for their families to get the life insurance money.
Agree. The iPhone is a status symbol. A badge of honor to iPhone owners. You are looked down upon not only if you don't use an iPhone, but also if you do but it's not the latest model. I have met people who consider you inferior if you own something other than an iPhone. Most amazing to me at least, was being told I must have voted for ____ because I used a Samsung. When is the last time you saw people lined up in front of a Samsung store days before the release of a new model?
Sheeple buy apple products. As far as phones my EDC is a 2020 Moto G stylus. It has all the bells & whistles I need including awesome stereo speakers & a microSD slot. I don't use the fingerprint unlock. It doesn't have NFC which I don't want. And no wireless charging which is harmful to the battery anyways. It retailed for $300 & I paid $132 new otd in 2021 on the Amazon/Tracfone deal. My PC (Laptop) is a Lenovo e540 ThinkPad from 2013 running W7P64. And again it does everything I want. I think around 2018 I paid ~$300 including upgrading the RAM & swapping in an SSD. Now most browsers stopped updates to PC not running W10 & up. So I'm going to eventually try to update to W11 on a Lenovo T540 ThinkPad I have lying around bypassing the hardware restrictions. Wish me good luck. So I don't need or want the latest & greatest. Just something in the middle. Best advice I could give about electronics is don't get the worst & don't get the best. But mostly Google & M$ force me to upgrade not me wanting the latest.
I don't understand such pejorative comments about Apple users. When it comes to mobile devices my best decision many years ago was to ditch the laggy and botched Android and switch to Apple. I've never regretted it since then. Why? Because it just works. Apple users know what that stark sentence means. Others have Android. My only problem is Mac which I couldn't get used to and prefer Win machines. Signed by the proud owner of an iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, AirPods and Apple TV.
My 6 year old budget Android phone still works fine, aside from the limited storage space. I'll upgrade to another Android phone with more storage in a year or two. I can't say much about iPhones because I've never owned one. I think the only compelling reason to own one is the much better integrated backup.
Everyone is the proud owner of something and whether it's an iPhone or a Nokia, it doesn't matter. The most important thing is your own satisfaction. In that light, I don't like it when people are vilified by brand.
To clarify, none of the comments I have posted on this subject were to pick on Apple users in general. Where as most sheeple will buy Apple, not everyone that buys Apple are sheeple. For everyone that buys one because they legitimately prefer one there is a teenager that has to have one to not be outcast. That is what will keep the sales going, no matter what.
No, No I'm not Sheeple. I don't believe anyone would have passed up the deal I got seven years ago buying my NEW 27 inch iMac. I bought it less than Half Price. They threw in a Apple USB SuperDrive and the Magic Track Pad 2 for FREE. I knew the manager of the Apple Store. He was a military buddy I was stationed with. Great Deal I couldn't pass up, besides at that time Microsoft was pushing everyone to their to be final OS, Windows 10. You see how well that worked out. I upgraded to Windows 10 but now can't upgrade to Windows 11. As for a "Smart Phone," I never had one and wouldn't want one. My cheap Verizon Flip Phone does well for me, Big Numbers and need no Security for it.
I used to be one of those. I went with a 'smarter than me' phone in 2012 (Samsung S4). Once switched, there is no turning back. I have several of my friends are still using Nokia dumb phones. The smart ones say I. I still have mine from 2003. I am still using the same number. I had to get the SIM card 'smallified' to work with my latest Andriod phone so to start using the Nokia again (which still works) I'd have to 'upsize' the SIM card. This nicest thing about the Nokia and something I miss is the size.
My wife used an iPhone for years (provider tied). She switched to Samsung (same provider) a few years ago. She now prefers Andriod. As for my self Samsung from the first. I noticed that folks with Apples tend to stick with Apple for compatibility reasons. My sister for example is Apple all the way. I would like to have a Mac Pro but that will have to wait until after I win the lotto.
Because they wouldn't be smart anymore. Smart on phones means that you can watch TVs, photos, videos, play games, read and write mails, documents, read websites, plan trips, book hotels, manage finances, insurance, car service, manage smart home etc. etc. etc. And now imagine that you should be doing this and much more on your Nokia. My first iPhone was 4 and I couldn't imagine having an even bigger screen. Now I have a 13 Pro Max and I can't imagine having a smaller display. Everything is relative.
