Speculation is mounting that Apple's next iPhone could cost $1,200 or more

[Tikaru]

My current dilemma, my husband works for Sprint so we get discounts on stuff and he has no cell phone plan to pay for. I got a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge but it's a total lemon and it was my first foray into android after 3 Iphones. I'm kinda leery towards the notion of getting another android especially since I hate the design of the S8 with that long narrow shit they got going on. I like the design of the iphone 7 but the lack of a headphone jack turned me off. There is speculation of the jack returning in the 8 so I'm holding out. Right now I need to replace this phone... just waiting to see if I like the design of the Note 8 or the Iphone 8.

If you're not a fan of the almost-bezel-less displays, I've got some bad news for you:



It seems to be how phones are going to start looking going forward.

As far as the headphone jack, I really doubt Apple will bring it back since they don't make any money off it compared to the money they make from lightning accessory fees.

[Themius]

More reason to stay android and never go iphone.

That doesn't make sense.

apple supports their phones for a very very very long time so you aren't forced to upgrade and the 6s is pretty much good enough as is.

[Xandrigity]

Yea that sounds about right. Last one I looked at was about 800-900 to buy outright and I believe that was a 6 with the highest memory.

[Xenyatta]

If you're not a fan of the almost-bezel-less displays, I've got some bad news for you:



It seems to be how phones are going to start looking going forward.

As far as the headphone jack, I really doubt Apple will bring it back since they don't make any money off it compared to the money they make from lightning accessory fees.

Bezels have nothing to do with it. I LOVE the new bezel less screens and if that's the design of the new IPhone, I'll take it! I don't like how thin and long the Galaxy S8's are. The S8+ looks ridiculous. I like how iPhone Pluses are scaled in size rather than a smidgen more width and WAY more length.

[Linri]

i get the fact that smartphones are popular and somewhat of a status symbol to have the newest phone.

but i never understood the need to upgrade your phone every single year to a phone that sets you back this type of money...1200 dollars is a lot of money to most people

[zenkai]

I work in a sales department for a mobile network and it's really amusing to see just how many people decide they want to stick with iPhones. Some of the reasons I hear most commonly are;

• My email is set up with it
• All my photos are saved on it
• I want a phone with a good camera
• I use <insert random app> a lot
• It links with my iPad (which isn't strictly true)

The company I work for recently released a phone with specs that are on par with the iPhone 7 Plus but running Android. It's even got a card slot to bring storage up to be higher than the iPhone 7 Plus.

For our customers, we can get them that phone at prices of less than £20 per month with a 16GB plan with no upfront cost, yet many of them would rather pay £45+ per month for an iPhone 7 with an upfront cost that's probably in the region of £70+ (yeah, the regular iPhone 7, not the plus version). They'd even rather pay £35 per month for an iPhone SE 32GB because "they heard Apple are good" or "I find the iPhones easy to use", apparently completely oblivious to how easy Android is to use.

They don't understand that their applications for contracts with cheaper phones are more likely to succeed (from a financial standpoint and that contracts like these are a form of finance and credit).

I've had customers even say "I want a phone with a good camera", so I suggest handsets by big names like Huawei or Sony (20MP+ on some models), which we can give them for less than £20 a month with that same 16GB plan, and they still come out with lines like "I heard the iPhone has a good camera though".

Have you tried convincing an Apple fanatic that there's other devices out there that are even better and still cheaper? It's hard work. Real hard work. They've got this idea in their mind that Apple is all there is, and that every other company in the world is inferior. I've even explained to some customers that the screens in iPhones are made by LG, the RAM chips and flash storage by Samsung, and the chassis by Foxconn. I'm not saying other companies don't do the same, but that's entirely the point - barring a few exceptions, there's almost no companies charging anywhere near the same price as Apple for their devices. The response was along the lines of "Yeah, but I don't think those companies make very good phones" followed by "That's like saying that because Mcdonalds make fries, that the people that supply the potatoes make great fries as well". My inner voice was screaming "Without those, you wouldn't have your f*cking fries at all!" but I could only respond with a more polite "I understand what you're saying, but it's not quite like that". Suffice to say they decided not to buy any phone from me.

It's not the fault of the customer though, but the 'fault' of the marketing at Apple. They've given this image of perfection to their products that they aren't actually able to live up to. Their devices are less water-resistant than some competitors, their software updates have been known to be completely unavailable to some devices not for any technical reason other than storage space, and replacing a broken iPhone screen is one of the most costly things someone can do.

The pricing of iPhones is extortionate and customers don't understand how much it actually costs to supply them compared to other devices which are much cheaper to handle and stock. It may be a supply-demand thing, but they can't act like the victims at all. They got themselves into this 'mess', and are being outdone by many other companies in terms of device power and quality. Even no-name brands on Gearbest are producing some fantastic devices at less than $200 USD.

Keep up the good fight, try to help the ignorant.

[unclecreepy]

The sad part is the people who love to gargle Steve Jobs's nuts will definitely buy it.

What's even more sad is that most of those people were not Apple users until just before or after he died, and the start of the great lapse of innovation that Apple has become.

[TJ]

i get the fact that smartphones are popular and somewhat of a status symbol to have the newest phone.

but i never understood the need to upgrade your phone every single year to a phone that sets you back this type of money...1200 dollars is a lot of money to most people

There is no need, there is barely any change from one model to the next, it's minimal. If you're a millionaire then fair enough.. but for most people it's retarded because they end up saving for something they clearly can't afford which gives them 0 benefits in life apart from saying "oh look I've got the latest phone".

[Beazy]

I'm still using Note 3. Perfect condition. Wont be buying a new phone until this one will not turn on anymore. Ive never been a fan of Apple products, but Im a software developer, so I actually have a good reason to laugh at Apple products. But its hard to deny, to those who are not tech savvy, Apple is a great product and people absolutely love them.

[Sinyc]

It was. And it will be every time it is repeated.


Ah yes, my 10.000.000 times faster and way more versatile computer certainly also cost a multitude of the Cray I... Do you even know how technological advancement works?

Do you? Because phones don't follow that for the most part. But keep trying.

[Rennadrel]

Ok I'll bite given that what you say is a rather large red herring....


At least on Android... you can install and remove the software easily .... annnnd your not limited to one supplier.

So bloatware as you put it is a non issue practically.

Have no issue with androids usability what so ever ... apple however I have always disliked, but thats just my opinion

Your criticism is basically founded on your preference, like mine, however your trying to state it as a global fact

and say your right and it actually is all about the software ... it still doesn't justify the price apple charge.

Bloatware doesn't even exist on some Android phones. The Blackberry Priv and other Android based phones by them have zero bloatware, it's kind of nice.

At least with Android you can customize your UI fairly easily, Apple are like Nazi's when it comes to customizing your device.

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What made me switch from a Galaxy S7 to an iPhone 7 Plus was simple: Apple puts out both the hardware and software. My mother has an old iPhone 5C (her first smartphone), and it's running the latest version of iOS (the 5C was released in 2013). Four years of support is better than what I received on any Android device.

Honestly, it's really that simple. I don't want to play a guessing game of if/when my phone will see the new OS update.

Android "O" is going to be released "soon", while less than 1% of Android users are on 7.1 with only 10.6% even on 7.0:
https://developer.android.com/about/...rds/index.html

The new Pixel phones, which were designed by Google, will stop seeing Android updates on October of next year and will stop getting security updates in October of 2019. Two years of OS updates vs four years from Apple.

Sure, you can root and flash a new ROM on most Android devices, but I don't want to. That's why some people are picking iPhones over other Android devices, it's a convenience thing.

I don't miss my S7. Everything I did on that phone I can do on my iPhone. The only widgets I ever used were my calendar and weather (which I can still see with a swipe to the left on my home screen on my iPhone).

Who cares? The majority of Android users don't even bother updating their devices because there is no mandatory need to, whereas Apple will force firmware updates into your asshole no if's and's or but's, at least Android apps continue to be compatible with older firmware until a certain point, and certain firmware that gets released won't always be compatible with older devices which is common. On top of that, as we have learned from Apple, mandatory firmware updates aren't always good for older devices. In fact, that was actually one of the biggest failures with one of the previous iPhone generations and an iOS upgrade effectively killed the battery life on previous generation models (I think it was when the iPhone 4 came out, the OS was terrible for the 3's and earlier models). So yeah, firmware and OS updates aren't always the best thing if you expect your phone's battery to last.

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people are outraged at the idea of a $1200 iphone, but guaranteed theres a windows/android phone with the same price tag. perk to an iphone... last longer seeing as windows/androids are very friendly with legal practice of making products that have a designated lifeline forcing you to always upgrade/buy a new phone.

There are a few Android phones that are very expensive, but they also tend to be a lot better than your run of the mill LG smartphone which costs half as much. Also, the OnePlus 5 is faster than any phone on the market. 8 core QualComm Snapdragon 835 clocks up to 2.45 Ghz, with 6 or 8 GB of LPDDR4X RAM, 64 or 128 GB of internal storage and has dual cameras. Apple can't compete with that on a price to performance ratio, or even at that price. Only difference is Apple users are dumb sheep who will buy any piece of shit that Apple feeds them, even if it's inferior to the competition.

[vilememory]

And with the release of the latest phone an update will go out that will make all previous models run like they are powered by a potato.

[Wallmaker Yahzarah]

Bloatware doesn't even exist on some Android phones. The Blackberry Priv and other Android based phones by them have zero bloatware, it's kind of nice.

At least with Android you can customize your UI fairly easily, Apple are like Nazi's when it comes to customizing your device.

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Who cares? The majority of Android users don't even bother updating their devices because there is no mandatory need to, whereas Apple will force firmware updates into your asshole no if's and's or but's, at least Android apps continue to be compatible with older firmware until a certain point, and certain firmware that gets released won't always be compatible with older devices which is common. On top of that, as we have learned from Apple, mandatory firmware updates aren't always good for older devices. In fact, that was actually one of the biggest failures with one of the previous iPhone generations and an iOS upgrade effectively killed the battery life on previous generation models (I think it was when the iPhone 4 came out, the OS was terrible for the 3's and earlier models). So yeah, firmware and OS updates aren't always the best thing if you expect your phone's battery to last.

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There are a few Android phones that are very expensive, but they also tend to be a lot better than your run of the mill LG smartphone which costs half as much. Also, the OnePlus 5 is faster than any phone on the market. 8 core QualComm Snapdragon 835 clocks up to 2.45 Ghz, with 6 or 8 GB of LPDDR4X RAM, 64 or 128 GB of internal storage and has dual cameras. Apple can't compete with that on a price to performance ratio, or even at that price. Only difference is Apple users are dumb sheep who will buy any piece of shit that Apple feeds them, even if it's inferior to the competition.

yeah just as dumb as non-apple users replacing their phones every year.

[Tikaru]

Apple are like Nazi's when it comes to customizing your device.

Apple rounds up people can kills them? Seriously, how old are you?

[Rennadrel]

yeah just as dumb as non-apple users replacing their phones every year.

I've been on the same phone for 3 years. I am now finally upgrading. Not all of us like to piss money down the drain.

[Sinyc]

Ask yourself WHY phones lack behind the entire rest of technical advancement in terms of bang for buck. I have an answer: Because especially Apple, but also other companies, are well able to demand what they want, because people are stupid enough to pay more than they can for this type of product. If there was no emotional aspect to phones, prices would follow the very same rules any other computing device prices follow.
But because people have been made infathomably guillable with regards to phones, foremost thanks to Jobs and his "wonderous" creation (which technically isn't really that much of an achievement), and some of the most ludicrous advertisment measures, the markup on these devices can survive the current levels and probably even beyond.
If you took away the silly hype, and people would buy what they actually needed to fulfill their technological actual needs, the entire market - including anything Android - would probably be less than a tenth of what it's made to look like today. The prices you pay for a mid to top range phone today are at least 75% explained by emotions, not tech, not actual requirements, and certainly not manufacturing and research costs. It's customers like YOU that allow this market to be blown up more than a hot air balloon on it's way to the moon.

I'm an actual studied IT professional working in the industry for more than 10 years now. Do you know what phone I own which is still WAY more capable than what I use it for? (And I use it for my daily self-employed business life as much as a phone could be.) It's a Galaxy S5 I owned for 2 years by now, bought a few month after the S6 came out only because my then 3 year old phone gave up on me. Mostly because I got a decent deal and I liked the much better camera for technical documentation. If my former phone hadn't died for good I'd probably still use it today, and it would be able to cope with anything I want to throw at it.
From this very first hand experince I can whole-heartedly attest that ANYONE today would be very well served with a 4-5 year old phone for 200 bucks at most for ALL their needs, as long as those needs don't include silly hypes and trends purely to be "cool" among your peers. (Very rare very individual requirements excluded, as always.)

So don't give me this crap about phones not following the rules. They DO if you disregard the artificial blown up desires for things only 0.1% of all people would actually have a well founded use for. It follows the rule exactly if you're not being stupid enough to be that easily manipulated.

Please, tell me, what do you NEED a device in your pocket for that is many tens of thousands of times over capable of what a PC of the 2000s, even a thousand times that of PCs of 2010 could do? I'd be amazed to find ANYthing that could justify such a purchase in more than 0.5% of all phone owners worldwide. Reasonably fast browsing, emails, messengers, video-chats... all that is easily handled by phones you could get for 100 bucks and less these days. Tell me. What in particular is it? I'm eager to hear any valid answers.

I agree with pretty much everything you said. Just to clarify, I am not and do not support the current phone market or what the manufacturers do to rip the consumers off.

Up until this past November I was rocking a Galaxy S4. And for 4-5 years before that I was rocking an HTC EVO. I just upgraded to the S7 because my S4 took a shit on me as well. The S4 was fine for what I needed. I work in IT as well.

It's hilarious to watch the fanboys drop $800 once a year for a phone with 1-2 upgrades. And in the case of Apple phones, "upgrades" that Android either invented or has had on their phones for 2-3 years.

[Deleted]

Why the fuck would pay that kind of money for a hand held device that also REALLY REALLY doesn't need that kind of processing power.

[Beazy]

Why the fuck would pay that kind of money for a hand held device that also REALLY REALLY doesn't need that kind of processing power.

For 1/3rd the price, you could get a Nintendo Switch. Best mobile device ever created! Wish I had one. /cry . . . ..

[Wallmaker Yahzarah]

I've been on the same phone for 3 years. I am now finally upgrading. Not all of us like to piss money down the drain.

bulsh!t... unless thats a nokio, youre andriod/windows phone has not lasted 3 years. there is an actual practice that windows and andriods are very much in love with that they can legally design their products to fail after x years so that you can buy their new product. Not saying apple does partake in the practice, they are just less obvious, and can actually be worked around due to the iOS, in which winx can be made more restrictive and force you into a corner.

ive personally have only owned a 3GS(which i forgot on the hood of my hmmwv in the middle of Ft Gordon (asphalt covered) motorpool on a summer day), a 4S, that, while pissed off troubleshooting my tacsat terminal in ft polk, la, i threw somewhere over the freaking rainbow and my 6S. my new bae has done me no wrong.

ive had andriod/winx phones for work, and as soon as a new model comes out. that crap would just turn to mud water.

[Suporex]

There are a few Android phones that are very expensive, but they also tend to be a lot better than your run of the mill LG smartphone which costs half as much. Also, the OnePlus 5 is faster than any phone on the market. 8 core QualComm Snapdragon 835 clocks up to 2.45 Ghz, with 6 or 8 GB of LPDDR4X RAM, 64 or 128 GB of internal storage and has dual cameras. Apple can't compete with that on a price to performance ratio, or even at that price. Only difference is Apple users are dumb sheep who will buy any piece of shit that Apple feeds them, even if it's inferior to the competition.

Except iPhone 7 Plus still has superior graphics and single core performance. There's a bigger reason why people buy iPhone than they're "dumb sheep". Most apps are designed for iOS first and foremost while Android is a afterthought.

As someone who has a Galaxy S7 Edge. OnePlus 5 looks like a iPhone knockoff. I wouldn't even mention that phone in the same sentence as the Galaxy S8 and iPhone 7 Plus.