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The real prices of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini

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71–80 of 416 posts

Re: The real prices of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember the iPhone launching as an AT&T exclusive or something back in the day. Did whichever US carrier it was get the same duration of exclusive placement?

I understand that was more because AT&T/Cingular was the only carrier willing to allow a phone that they literally weren’t allowed to see until launch day onto their network. Didn’t the other carriers baulk at Apple and tell them to pound-sand for thinking they’d let them use their network without any oversight of their phone’s software system or similar?

Plus Visual Voicemail, if I recall.

Re: The real prices of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini

#72

It seems odd to call a $30 subsidy a lie when the industry standard was a 50%, 75%, or 100% subsidy just a few years ago.

A lie that involves charging someone more money is still a lie even if it's $30 (not insignificant! the cost of a good meal or ~half a tank of gas!) instead of $300

Re: The real prices of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini

#73

Isn't it practically $699 for most people? I would guess the vast majority of iPhone users have a contract with their phone with a major carrier. The $729 is the edge case pricing. And phones have long been advertised at a subsidized price in exchange for a long term contract anyway.

Mobile carriers in the US stopped using contracts years ago.

The price is subsidized by monthly discounts on a payment plan for the phone, but you can leave anytime and pay off the remaining balance.

Re: The real prices of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember the iPhone launching as an AT&T exclusive or something back in the day. Did whichever US carrier it was get the same duration of exclusive placement?

I understand that was more because AT&T/Cingular was the only carrier willing to allow a phone that they literally weren’t allowed to see until launch day onto their network. Didn’t the other carriers baulk at Apple and tell them to pound-sand for thinking they’d let them use their network without any oversight of their phone’s software system or similar?

Yes. At the time, Verizon was doing things like completely blocking Bluetooth for anything other than headsets, because they wanted to force people to use their mobile data to get pictures off their phones.

Re: The real prices of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are end-users even going to have a "5G experience"? The average user isn't going to really notice faster downloads or lower latency relative to good LTE. If anything it seems like Apple is doing the wireless carriers a favor by carrying the marketing water for 5G

I think netflix users might notice. If they can push ‘download local’ and it takes 1 second to do so, that might be an interesting thing :) Also, 1 GB games that take 1 second to update will be nice.

But you will realistically only get those speeds so close to the cellular antenna that you can feel it melting your brain.

/s

but actually you do need to be within a few hundred feed of the antenna to get "impressive" 5G speeds. I heard reports that during the build out at NFL stadiums, the antenna coverage didn't even reach the field when placed at the top of the seating.

Re: The real prices of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini

#76
post #14

Why doesn't the US have universal laws that cover price transparency in general? There are so many industries that get into shady territory: rental cars ("facility use fees"), hotels ("resort fees"), internet access ("mandatory equipment rental fees"), even SF restaurants ("SF mandate"). I'm saying Apple is wrong, and so are many other companies, and shouldn't we have fixed this with a law by this point?

There are a lot of things the US should do. Our government is down at the moment, and on-call has no idea how to resolve the issue.

Your comment is funny, but you should be aware this is a state issue, not a federal one.

Unless you are implying every state is down too :)

Re: The real prices of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini

#78

Why doesn't the US have universal laws that cover price transparency in general? There are so many industries that get into shady territory: rental cars ("facility use fees"), hotels ("resort fees"), internet access ("mandatory equipment rental fees"), even SF restaurants ("SF mandate"). I'm saying Apple is wrong, and so are many other companies, and shouldn't we have fixed this with a law by this point?

Because the free market only works well with easy price discovery, and having to operate in a free market limits your margins.

Re: The real prices of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini

#79
post #2

I saw that on their page - I wasn't as offended about the pricing differential as the post, but I was groaning during the whole verizon pitch. I wonder how much verizon paid for that placement. It felt extremely out of place and very cringy IMO.

I remember the iPhone launching as an AT&T exclusive or something back in the day. Did whichever US carrier it was get the same duration of exclusive placement?

The AT&T exclusivity deal was quite different - it was both exclusive and it lasted years. But at the time, carriers also weren't making deals where they didn't control what software was on the device to begin with.

Re: The real prices of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are end-users even going to have a "5G experience"? The average user isn't going to really notice faster downloads or lower latency relative to good LTE. If anything it seems like Apple is doing the wireless carriers a favor by carrying the marketing water for 5G

I think netflix users might notice. If they can push ‘download local’ and it takes 1 second to do so, that might be an interesting thing :) Also, 1 GB games that take 1 second to update will be nice.

With symmetric 1Gbit internet at home, I noticed that other parts of the system become a bottleneck. E.g. my laptop built in SSD simply cannot handle these speeds, something to do with the drivers. I assume phone users may see similar issues.
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