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With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

nytimes.com

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Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#251

Post by girvo »

millstone wrote: post #11
featherverse wrote: post #7

It isn't crossing a threshold. The old iphones and their "affordable" price tags was crossing a threshhold. Apple was dipping their toes in the middle-america Market in order to grab market share. And now they're returning to what they've always sold, overpriced gadgets aimed at a specific niche demo.

Can't it be both? Apple sells upmarket but also mid-market phones, like the iPhone SE. Features are introduced on the high-end models and then migrate down. Of course Apple will continue to compete in the mid-market range.

> iPhone SE

Which is the best phone I've ever owned -- Nokia N9 aside, anyway. Excellent size, great performance, latest updates and I got it second hand (but BNIB, was her insurance replacement for a lost phone) for $350AUD. I get to use iOS with a reasonably modern day chipset, an excellent camera, but for the cost of a midrange android phone. Excellent, really.

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#252

Post by balladeer »

alkonaut wrote: post #189

A lot of people just get the best iphone every 24 months (e.g. rich people, or people who have a generous smartphone policy at work). Having a model that gets another couple of hundred bucks from those people is pretty clever I think. This is basically the S-class phone (To make a car analogy, because that's what we do). The S-class Mercedes costs twice as much as the "Normal" E-class, and each time they launch a new…

Works for me. I may be up for the next SE Class :) Provided SE sees an upgrade. A genuine "thank you" for everyone who are paying for all the features that will be in my next SE purchase ~2 yrs later (I hope to keep it for at least that long).

On a different note, E-Class seeing most of the features of previous year's S-Class may be a bit far fetched, don't you think so? Maybe couple of features that make the newly launched E-Class visibly an upgrade from last E-Class but "most" and that too at half the price of S-Class seems slightly off. I would assume that the previous year model of S-Class would still cost the same (a little more or less) and will be in market - unless a new S-Class model is released every year.

PS. Know very little about cars (def. too little luxury ones). Just had some general doubts. And I hope E in E-Class doesn't stand for "economy".

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#253

Post by skookumchuck »

alkonaut wrote: post #189

A lot of people just get the best iphone every 24 months (e.g. rich people, or people who have a generous smartphone policy at work). Having a model that gets another couple of hundred bucks from those people is pretty clever I think. This is basically the S-class phone (To make a car analogy, because that's what we do). The S-class Mercedes costs twice as much as the "Normal" E-class, and each time they launch a new…

Common pricing strategy is to have 3 price points:

1. a cheap stripper model used to bring people into the showroom

2. an expensive deluxe model with every bell and whistle. It's primary purpose is to frame the next one as being affordable:

3. the mid-price mid-range one you're expected to buy.

Of course, the price-is-no-object people will buy (2) anyway, and that's just extra gravy.

You'll see this technique used across all sorts of product lines.

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#254

Post by robin_reala »

dagw wrote: post #222
robin_reala wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For example, look at the now defunct Vertu. All the titanium and ostrich skin in the world wouldn’t let them sell a better OS.

For what it's worth Vertu is still around (www.vertu.com) and still selling phones to a certain clientele at places like Harrods and Dubai Airport. And with Android 6, Snapdragon 820, a 534ppi screen and a 3200mAh battery, they can at least hold their own against your average android phone.

Ah, OK, I’d assumed that as they shut their manufacturing facilities and went bankrupt they’d closed their concessions as well: https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/13/15963656/vertu-luxury-pho...

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#255

Post by pseudonym »

nikofeyn wrote: post #35
racl101 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, still doesn't get better than OSX.

as a user of both windows and mac os x, what do you truly like about mac os x that you prefer it so heavily over windows?

For me personally, 90% of it boils down to "unix baseline". I do most of my development work remotely on linux servers of varying flavors, but OSX + homebrew means that I can pretty easily use the tools I write for one machine on my local systems as well.

Beyond that, I've just got a lot of random applications for streamlining my workflow and day-to-day usage that would take a long time to find equivalent tools for, and I'm long past the days when "spending a weekend fucking with settings" was something I want to do. OSX, I just back up my machines and if/when I need to replace them, it's just "plug the new one into the backup drive, restore from backup".

Maybe someday the year of the linux desktop will actually happen, but I'm not holding my breath either.

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#257

Post by majewsky »

naraniano wrote: post #188
ianai wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For one, Mac OS does multiple displays and DPIs right. The trackpad is also solid. Plus the unix stuff that's always been there and isn't some subsystem only available with certain versions of windows. Also, the boot up and sign in process sucks in Windows vs Mac. Once I'm given a mouse cursor post-signon I'm ready to go in Mac OS. With Windows, I've got to wait for the AV to load up and do it's "routine". Then there…

Windows since the Creators Update also does multiple displays and DPIs right. By the way, support for that is completely non-existant on Linux.

"that" as in multi-monitor support? Multi-monitor works fine on my Plasma desktop since at least 2012. Can't comment on high-DPI, but from what I've heard it's in the "getting there" stage.

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#258

Post by Tepix »

zimpenfish wrote: post #245
cm2187 wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you can see the effect on sales. The only reason to replace a laptop these days is if you spill some coffee on it.

Or you start getting into editing 8K+ images in Photoshop. That's not much fun on a Macbook 12" (I mean, it's doable but ... slow ... ly ... and ... clu ... nk ... ily.)

Computers haven't gotten much faster in the last half decade or so. This includes the MacBook 12".

GPUs and SSDs are a different subject...

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#260

Post by dagw »

steve19 wrote: post #246
dagw wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it's worth Vertu is still around (www.vertu.com) and still selling phones to a certain clientele at places like Harrods and Dubai Airport. And with Android 6, Snapdragon 820, a 534ppi screen and a 3200mAh battery, they can at least hold their own against your average android phone.

Note he said OS. As far as I understand the android fork on those phones is awful. Also the hardware is always a generation behind.

As far as I understand the android fork on those phones is awful.

According to this review: https://www.androidcentral.com/vertu-constellation it's pretty close to stock android these days with a slightly customized launcher and a few minor tweaks like "Where a typical phone might offer only a few options for title — Mister, Miss, Doctor — Vertu Accounts offer a laundry list of titles, ranging from King and Queen to Sheikh and Lord and His Excellency"

Also the hardware is always a generation behind.

Hey they're improving. They used to be at least three generations behind.

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