6 ms·

I take your point, but I think it’s important to note that the iPhone SE is half that price. In India, it’s about $309 today.

seszett 9y ago
> In India, it’s about $309 today. So about three times the average monthly wage if the numbers I find are right. (Sneak edit) Just to write it down another way, that means 25% of the average yearly income. For a phone.
- megy 9y ago
  So, get one second hand and it will be even cheaper. The point was it is not $700 for security.
  - literallycancer 9y ago
    Ever tried using an old iPhone?
    - kalleboo 9y ago
      Ever tried using one of those dirt-cheap Android phones?
      - as1mov 9y ago
        The difference is the a dirt cheap Android phone will cost less than $100 for new unlocked, whereas a dirt cheap iPhone start at about $300. For $300, you could get a competitevly specced Android phone with great support for AOSP custom roms. Get one of these, flash AOSP without play services and you've got a reasonably privacy-focused phone.
        dep_b 9y ago
        For US$300 you'll get an iPhone SE that'll outrun a Samsung Galaxy S7 in most benchmarks. What's not competitive about that? Can't expect current flagship performance from a US$300 device.
        lern_too_spel 9y ago
        A cheap Android phone runs circles around the most expensive iPhone in day-to-day tasks. https://youtu.be/qcfqhszn7Bk https://youtu.be/qcfqhszn7Bk This has been the case for many years now. https://youtu.be/hPhkPXVxISY https://youtu.be/hPhkPXVxISY
        dep_b 9y ago
        So a "cheap" Android phone costing US$500 that came out like yesterday is really good at opening and closing applications. The new benchmark of What Makes A Really Great Phone after It Must Have Slim Bezels wasn't an argument anymore.
        lern_too_spel 9y ago
        > So a "cheap" Android phone costing US$500 that came out like yesterday See the second video, which shows a $300 phone of the previous generation beating an iPhone of the latest generation at the time that cost twice as much. I couldn't find a head to head comparison of the iPhone X against a cheap Android of the previous generation, but I expect the outcome to be the same. > is really good at opening and closing applications. The video doesn't show speed of closing applications. Opening communication applications is 90% of what users wait for when using a phone, and Android users wait less. Your artificial benchmarks that measure gaming performance aren't much use to the 99% of users who use their phones more for productivity than for AAA games.
        dep_b 9y ago
        We're measuring performance of computing devices with benchmarks for at least 20 years now. Most of the scenes still do it that way, for example comparing PC performance to Xbox or Playstation. AMD vs Nvidia. Nobody questions that a significant difference in benchmark results means a difference in real life performance. Except for some people living in the Android world. Why is that? I think it's a bit like people that are denying climate science. They keep looking for new kinds of benchmarks until they find something that fits their predetermined outcome. Some glacier got longer instead of shorter? and boom see no global warming. Some YouTube dude has a video that makes your phone looks fast? and boom look no further. Benchmarks suck!
      - cmurf 9y ago
        Yes, MotoG3 2015. Best phone I've had so far, all around. $200 is not exactly dirt cheap, but it comes out to $100 a year so far. There is no way an iPhone is going to last me 10 years to match that cost per unit time. The pisser about it, is Motorola, like so many other companies, abandoned it for major updates. It does ostensibly still get major security updates, but...
    - mlindner 9y ago
      I'm on iPhone 5 right now. No problems.
    - Angostura 9y ago
      My daughter's on a 4S. Still trucking on.
  - burntwater 9y ago
    The point isn't that it's $700, rather that it's (at least) a month's salary, even used, for someone in a more developing country.
  - jaytaylor 9y ago
    @literally: Yes, and with updates they're so slow as to be unusable. Apple also doesn't permit OS downgrades, truly crippling all older iOS devices.
    - Accacin 9y ago
      Disproven multiple times.
      - dep_b 9y ago
        I don't think there was an upgrade after iOS 7 that really made devices significantly slower. But a lot of people still have an iPhone 4 trauma. The 5S is like 5 years old and still runs iOS 11 very capably (unless you're one of the unlucky people with whatever type of iPhone for whom iOS 11 still is borked for some reason, still having trouble on one iPhone 6S Plus with that).
firethief 9y ago
For comparison, you can get an Android in India for $5.
- piyush_soni 9y ago
  Unless it's sarcasm, I don't know which phone you're talking about.

seszett 9y ago

> In India, it’s about $309 today. So about three times the average monthly wage if the numbers I find are right. (Sneak edit) Just to write it down another way, that means 25% of the average yearly income. For a phone.

megy 9y ago
So, get one second hand and it will be even cheaper. The point was it is not $700 for security.
- literallycancer 9y ago
  Ever tried using an old iPhone?
  - kalleboo 9y ago
    Ever tried using one of those dirt-cheap Android phones?
    - as1mov 9y ago
      The difference is the a dirt cheap Android phone will cost less than $100 for new unlocked, whereas a dirt cheap iPhone start at about $300. For $300, you could get a competitevly specced Android phone with great support for AOSP custom roms. Get one of these, flash AOSP without play services and you've got a reasonably privacy-focused phone.
      - dep_b 9y ago
        For US$300 you'll get an iPhone SE that'll outrun a Samsung Galaxy S7 in most benchmarks. What's not competitive about that? Can't expect current flagship performance from a US$300 device.
        lern_too_spel 9y ago
        A cheap Android phone runs circles around the most expensive iPhone in day-to-day tasks. https://youtu.be/qcfqhszn7Bk https://youtu.be/qcfqhszn7Bk This has been the case for many years now. https://youtu.be/hPhkPXVxISY https://youtu.be/hPhkPXVxISY
        dep_b 9y ago
        So a "cheap" Android phone costing US$500 that came out like yesterday is really good at opening and closing applications. The new benchmark of What Makes A Really Great Phone after It Must Have Slim Bezels wasn't an argument anymore.
        lern_too_spel 9y ago
        > So a "cheap" Android phone costing US$500 that came out like yesterday See the second video, which shows a $300 phone of the previous generation beating an iPhone of the latest generation at the time that cost twice as much. I couldn't find a head to head comparison of the iPhone X against a cheap Android of the previous generation, but I expect the outcome to be the same. > is really good at opening and closing applications. The video doesn't show speed of closing applications. Opening communication applications is 90% of what users wait for when using a phone, and Android users wait less. Your artificial benchmarks that measure gaming performance aren't much use to the 99% of users who use their phones more for productivity than for AAA games.
        dep_b 9y ago
        We're measuring performance of computing devices with benchmarks for at least 20 years now. Most of the scenes still do it that way, for example comparing PC performance to Xbox or Playstation. AMD vs Nvidia. Nobody questions that a significant difference in benchmark results means a difference in real life performance. Except for some people living in the Android world. Why is that? I think it's a bit like people that are denying climate science. They keep looking for new kinds of benchmarks until they find something that fits their predetermined outcome. Some glacier got longer instead of shorter? and boom see no global warming. Some YouTube dude has a video that makes your phone looks fast? and boom look no further. Benchmarks suck!
    - cmurf 9y ago
      Yes, MotoG3 2015. Best phone I've had so far, all around. $200 is not exactly dirt cheap, but it comes out to $100 a year so far. There is no way an iPhone is going to last me 10 years to match that cost per unit time. The pisser about it, is Motorola, like so many other companies, abandoned it for major updates. It does ostensibly still get major security updates, but...
  - mlindner 9y ago
    I'm on iPhone 5 right now. No problems.
  - Angostura 9y ago
    My daughter's on a 4S. Still trucking on.
- burntwater 9y ago
  The point isn't that it's $700, rather that it's (at least) a month's salary, even used, for someone in a more developing country.
- jaytaylor 9y ago
  @literally: Yes, and with updates they're so slow as to be unusable. Apple also doesn't permit OS downgrades, truly crippling all older iOS devices.
  - Accacin 9y ago
    Disproven multiple times.
    - dep_b 9y ago
      I don't think there was an upgrade after iOS 7 that really made devices significantly slower. But a lot of people still have an iPhone 4 trauma. The 5S is like 5 years old and still runs iOS 11 very capably (unless you're one of the unlucky people with whatever type of iPhone for whom iOS 11 still is borked for some reason, still having trouble on one iPhone 6S Plus with that).

firethief 9y ago

For comparison, you can get an Android in India for $5.

piyush_soni 9y ago
Unless it's sarcasm, I don't know which phone you're talking about.