6 ms·

I use an android phone, I'd buy an apple phone in a heartbeat if it didn't cost as much. They just keep raising the price too, which is ridiculous. I get its a

by bfrog 7y ago

I use an android phone, I'd buy an apple phone in a heartbeat if it didn't cost as much. They just keep raising the price too, which is ridiculous. I get its a premium product, but they've priced themselves out of so many peoples budgets at this point I think.

mikestew 7y ago
In many venues, I'd be labelled an Apple fanboi. And I probably am. I've got all their shit; services, too. The day their credit card comes out is the day I sign up for it. Hey, it's one-stop shopping, I'm comfy in the ecosystem, I feel like a superior person by using their products, and the stuff mostly works. But I would absolutely love a $400-500 iPhone and I'm fine if it's missing a lot of features. My phone just isn't my primary point of mobile computing anymore (if anything, Apple Watch fills that role for me now[0]), so I neither need nor want a $1000 phone (even though, being a fanboi, I have one). And the point of putting my CV in the first paragraph is to point out that, hey, even if you don't make money selling me a phone, Apple, you'll still make an arse-load of money off me. And maybe you'll get new customers/revenue to boot. [0]Which, I'll point out, is also a ridiculously-priced device at $900 for the one I bought.
- saagarjha 7y ago
  > But I would absolutely love a $400-500 iPhone and I'm fine if it's missing a lot of features. Apple still sells iPhone 7.
  - mikestew 7y ago
    Good point, I somehow skipped right over that one. Granted, I was thinking more along the lines of the SEs, which were a CPU generation behind, and would be supported for a while. The 7 is only a couple of generations from obsolescence. OTOOH, having given a bit of thought, is it just more economical to eat the expensive of the flagship up front and then hang on to it for four or five years (which is what we currently do).
    - Scoundreller 7y ago
      I think if you buy the trailing edge of the latest generation, and re-sell it once it’d trailing edge of the next generation, you’ll have s cost-effective cycle of good devices. Or trailing edges of the 2nd and 3rd generation respectively. Just make sure you don’t hold on beyond obsolescence. Sometimes old stuff spikes in value a bit as others want to replace/repair instead of upgrade.
    - 43920 7y ago
      So far, the trend seems to be for Apple to support devices for 5 years after release [0]. Most apps will support at least 1 previous version of iOS, so your total lifespan is around 6 years total. Given that, you end up with: XR: $750 / 6 years = $125/year 8: $599 / 5 years = $120/year 7: $449 / 4 years = $112/year So assuming you plan to keep the device for its entire lifespan, I'm not sure it actually matters very much what you buy. [0] http://infographic.statista.com/normal/chartoftheday_5824_ios_iphone_compatibility_n.jpg http://infographic.statista.com/normal/chartoftheday_5824_io...
      - bfrog 7y ago
        This is my point exactly. My moto x4 is no slouch and does almost everything I want. Cost me $150. Will easily last me 3-4 years. 50/year to own. iPhone 8 assuming it lasts 4 years without battery/breakage means I could buy new moto x4 every year I own that 8. I get that its supported longer but these devices are heavily used and abused.
    - scarface74 7y ago
      Apple is showing a willingness to provide security and bug fix upgrades far longer than they offer OS upgrades.
- alxmdev 7y ago
  > I feel like a superior person by using their products Well, as long as you're happy...
  - mikestew 7y ago
    If I were truly happy, I wouldn't be trying to fill that empty hole, where a soul should be, with electronics.
- magashna 7y ago
  >I feel like a superior person by using their products That's quite a shallow self-image
rmrfnodemodules 7y ago
I've been a long-time iPhone user, but TBH I disagree that it's a premium product. I think it's just overpriced (compare to many other Android phones). It's the iOS ecosystem and privacy concerns that keep me on iOS.
yholio 7y ago
The iPhone is exceptionally cheap compared to what a device with similar capability would have costed 5 or 10 years ago. So, pricing is always relative to the existing technological level and competing offerings. Within a given technological age, Apple chose to always go after the upper third - quarter - or even tenth of the market. It's a strategy that brought them great fortunes, they don't compete on price, not even on capability per unit of price, they sell premium gadgets for those with high disposable income.
- egdod 7y ago
  Everything in tech is cheap compared to what its equivalent would have cost 5-10 years ago.
monocularvision 7y ago
Honest question: how long do you generally keep your Android phones? An iPhone XR is $750 retail (I would assume you can get it cheaper) and I would feel comfortable saying it will last 4-5 years and get all OS and security updates. I’m sure from a TCO it will still end up being more expensive than Android but not quite as much when looking beyond initial purchase price.
- squiggleblaz 7y ago
  I have a OnePlus 5T, which I got when it was brand new, so that's coming on two years. It replaced my previous phone because it was unusable (apparently a deliberate tactic to stop the battery suddenly running out of juice). I would like one of the Linux phones when they come out later this year, but I guess the this will remain in use after that. I would love a phone with a better, intelligent camera app, but I don't want to replace the phone "just because". My previous phone was an iPhone 6. I'm pretty sure it was around March when I got it, and it was the topend phone at the time, so I guess it was March 2015. So that was perhaps 2.5 years; this jives with my recollection of it being out of contract, but not hugely so. But my wife kept using it till May this year because I accidentally left it near her when her phone broke, and she thought it was fine even though to me it was unusable. Perhaps you can call that about 4 years of use. Before that, I had a Nexus 5. I don't think it lasted particularly wrong. I got it on my birthday, which makes it July 2014. So I presumably replaced it within a year. I think I was unhappy withe the phone for its whole life; in particular, I had been planning to try an iPhone so I don't know why I bought a Nexus. Its battery life was awful. Once the screen broke, and its replacement cost was a massive proportion of its purchase price, I decided to try an iPhone. But my wife used it after hers got stolen till it completely broke apart sometime last year (she used both the iPhone and the Nexus for a time). Before that, I had a G1. It was probably around 2009 or 2010 that I got it, so maybe it was four or five years. At the time, my coworkers laughed at me for having such an old phone, but I didn't think it was weird to keep a phone so long. So I guess the phones I buy get used for about four years, no matter who owns (I mean, wrote the OS) them. But I get itchy feet every other year.
- martin_a 7y ago
  I bought a used "One Plus 3T" last spring and am still using it. At this point it looks like I can use it for one or two more years. I think this is not bad for a device which came out in 2015. I recently got the update for Android 9 and security patches are from June, so it's not that bad either. On the other hand, One Plus seems to behave somewhat special here. The Samsung phone of my mother might have received one or two minor updates and it's already down to the ground although it's not even two years old, I think.

by bfrog 7y ago

mikestew 7y ago

In many venues, I'd be labelled an Apple fanboi. And I probably am. I've got all their shit; services, too. The day their credit card comes out is the day I sign up for it. Hey, it's one-stop shopping, I'm comfy in the ecosystem, I feel like a superior person by using their products, and the stuff mostly works. But I would absolutely love a $400-500 iPhone and I'm fine if it's missing a lot of features. My phone just isn't my primary point of mobile computing anymore (if anything, Apple Watch fills that role for me now[0]), so I neither need nor want a $1000 phone (even though, being a fanboi, I have one). And the point of putting my CV in the first paragraph is to point out that, hey, even if you don't make money selling me a phone, Apple, you'll still make an arse-load of money off me. And maybe you'll get new customers/revenue to boot. [0]Which, I'll point out, is also a ridiculously-priced device at $900 for the one I bought.

saagarjha 7y ago
> But I would absolutely love a $400-500 iPhone and I'm fine if it's missing a lot of features. Apple still sells iPhone 7.
- mikestew 7y ago
  Good point, I somehow skipped right over that one. Granted, I was thinking more along the lines of the SEs, which were a CPU generation behind, and would be supported for a while. The 7 is only a couple of generations from obsolescence. OTOOH, having given a bit of thought, is it just more economical to eat the expensive of the flagship up front and then hang on to it for four or five years (which is what we currently do).
  - Scoundreller 7y ago
    I think if you buy the trailing edge of the latest generation, and re-sell it once it’d trailing edge of the next generation, you’ll have s cost-effective cycle of good devices. Or trailing edges of the 2nd and 3rd generation respectively. Just make sure you don’t hold on beyond obsolescence. Sometimes old stuff spikes in value a bit as others want to replace/repair instead of upgrade.
  - 43920 7y ago
    So far, the trend seems to be for Apple to support devices for 5 years after release [0]. Most apps will support at least 1 previous version of iOS, so your total lifespan is around 6 years total. Given that, you end up with: XR: $750 / 6 years = $125/year 8: $599 / 5 years = $120/year 7: $449 / 4 years = $112/year So assuming you plan to keep the device for its entire lifespan, I'm not sure it actually matters very much what you buy. [0] http://infographic.statista.com/normal/chartoftheday_5824_ios_iphone_compatibility_n.jpg http://infographic.statista.com/normal/chartoftheday_5824_io...
    - bfrog 7y ago
      This is my point exactly. My moto x4 is no slouch and does almost everything I want. Cost me $150. Will easily last me 3-4 years. 50/year to own. iPhone 8 assuming it lasts 4 years without battery/breakage means I could buy new moto x4 every year I own that 8. I get that its supported longer but these devices are heavily used and abused.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    Apple is showing a willingness to provide security and bug fix upgrades far longer than they offer OS upgrades.
alxmdev 7y ago
> I feel like a superior person by using their products Well, as long as you're happy...
- mikestew 7y ago
  If I were truly happy, I wouldn't be trying to fill that empty hole, where a soul should be, with electronics.
magashna 7y ago
>I feel like a superior person by using their products That's quite a shallow self-image

rmrfnodemodules 7y ago

I've been a long-time iPhone user, but TBH I disagree that it's a premium product. I think it's just overpriced (compare to many other Android phones). It's the iOS ecosystem and privacy concerns that keep me on iOS.

yholio 7y ago

The iPhone is exceptionally cheap compared to what a device with similar capability would have costed 5 or 10 years ago. So, pricing is always relative to the existing technological level and competing offerings. Within a given technological age, Apple chose to always go after the upper third - quarter - or even tenth of the market. It's a strategy that brought them great fortunes, they don't compete on price, not even on capability per unit of price, they sell premium gadgets for those with high disposable income.

egdod 7y ago
Everything in tech is cheap compared to what its equivalent would have cost 5-10 years ago.

monocularvision 7y ago

Honest question: how long do you generally keep your Android phones? An iPhone XR is $750 retail (I would assume you can get it cheaper) and I would feel comfortable saying it will last 4-5 years and get all OS and security updates. I’m sure from a TCO it will still end up being more expensive than Android but not quite as much when looking beyond initial purchase price.

squiggleblaz 7y ago
I have a OnePlus 5T, which I got when it was brand new, so that's coming on two years. It replaced my previous phone because it was unusable (apparently a deliberate tactic to stop the battery suddenly running out of juice). I would like one of the Linux phones when they come out later this year, but I guess the this will remain in use after that. I would love a phone with a better, intelligent camera app, but I don't want to replace the phone "just because". My previous phone was an iPhone 6. I'm pretty sure it was around March when I got it, and it was the topend phone at the time, so I guess it was March 2015. So that was perhaps 2.5 years; this jives with my recollection of it being out of contract, but not hugely so. But my wife kept using it till May this year because I accidentally left it near her when her phone broke, and she thought it was fine even though to me it was unusable. Perhaps you can call that about 4 years of use. Before that, I had a Nexus 5. I don't think it lasted particularly wrong. I got it on my birthday, which makes it July 2014. So I presumably replaced it within a year. I think I was unhappy withe the phone for its whole life; in particular, I had been planning to try an iPhone so I don't know why I bought a Nexus. Its battery life was awful. Once the screen broke, and its replacement cost was a massive proportion of its purchase price, I decided to try an iPhone. But my wife used it after hers got stolen till it completely broke apart sometime last year (she used both the iPhone and the Nexus for a time). Before that, I had a G1. It was probably around 2009 or 2010 that I got it, so maybe it was four or five years. At the time, my coworkers laughed at me for having such an old phone, but I didn't think it was weird to keep a phone so long. So I guess the phones I buy get used for about four years, no matter who owns (I mean, wrote the OS) them. But I get itchy feet every other year.
martin_a 7y ago
I bought a used "One Plus 3T" last spring and am still using it. At this point it looks like I can use it for one or two more years. I think this is not bad for a device which came out in 2015. I recently got the update for Android 9 and security patches are from June, so it's not that bad either. On the other hand, One Plus seems to behave somewhat special here. The Samsung phone of my mother might have received one or two minor updates and it's already down to the ground although it's not even two years old, I think.