memes

Apple devices mostly aren‘t significantly more expensive than their counterparts by other manufacturers.

However, most of those offer cheaper alternatives that Apple doesn’t.

So, there are no Apple counterparts for what "other manufacturers" make.

Apple's discounting strategy is generally to sell last year's model, sometimes the model before that, with roughly $200 discounts for each year since its release. They sometimes release a lower spec model (the 16e is the current example, prior SE models or even the mini models from previous generations were part of this strategy as well) and that sometimes means the 2-year-old model isn't kept available as long.

That's where their 5-7 year support window really shines, in that they can just sell older models as discounted models, knowing that the new owner will still get 3-5 years of support.

The other thing is that the used market for iPhones is pretty robust. I can go buy used phones that are 3 or 4 years old and still get a good 1-4 years of additional support. At least in the U.S., if you told me my budget for a phone was gonna be $300 for the next 2 years, I think I'd probably buy a used iPhone.

As it currently stands, I'm still on Pixels on a 2 year cycle, but I also know that my "sell used to offset the price of my new phone" strategy also would be much cheaper if I did it with iPhones instead of Pixels.

You can buy a brand new iPhone 16e starting at $599.

I'm a techie guy. I like tech. I run my own servers at home. I run a Lemmy instance.

Trust me I am very aware I absolutely do not NEED a new phone. But if I can get a good deal on a new one and recoup a significant amount by trading/selling the old - I do (after a year or so, usually)

It's something that interests me. Some people collect knick-knacks and probably spend more than I do on consumer electronics.

Not in a literal sense but apple do tend to cripple old iPhone with their newest software update. I should know i owned an iPhone 12 mini on ios 17. That little bugger stutter everytime i pull down the control centre, scrolling through safari, scrolling through app, delay when pressing keyboard and yes, the battery is above 90% iirc.

My wife's iphone xr is even worse, granted it has been 7 years but god damn, that thing make my blood boil. Its still on ios 17, i cant imagine how slow it's gonna be on ios 18. Battery is at 82% though but i dont think replacing battery is worth it at the moment. Just waiting for the right moment to upgrade.

I agree with your spoiler. But when you look at how Apple works, with there monopoly with their app store and how old phones get mediocre updates while newer phones lack significant improvements, while they do their best to make it exclusive (for example, even though usb C is forced on to them, they have their own version. But also removing the aux plus which sadly is copied by other brands). Samsung does the same, as they joined the fight against right to repair so they are just as evil as Apple imo. Many brands are either from mega corps and push apps onto you and love to exploit their users, or are Chinese brands stealing away customers with too cheap prices while their next line is just as bad as the competition while they hoard your data. It's hard to find a decent brand these days. It's just an ocean of shit companies.