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Gudi

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May 3, 2013
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You can't just look at Apple in a vacuum.
Sure I can! Everyone who ever bought an iPhone could ignore cheaper, higher spec Android offerings. Let’s compare Apples to Apples instead.

The 5C ($550) was just $100 less than a 5S ($650).
The SE ($400) was nowhere comparable to a 6S ($650).

Up until now, cheaper always meant in some way older technology reused from previous iPhone generations. But the XR is a new design for the purpose to be cheaper. It’s “Liquid Retina” screen with rounded corners and a notch is all new and it uses LCD technology without 3D Touch only because that’s the cheapest way to build a display. Not because Apple already had a factory mass-producing these things for a previous model. I’d rather discuss the implications of this new product strategy than entertain fantasies about iPhones at Android prices. Because this is what gives us cheaper iPhones in reality.

The XR sits at a weird position where it's a large phone with a low resolution but otherwise good specs.
Analysts smarter than me have predicted the XR could account for as much as 50% of this generation’s iPhone market, followed by the XS Max with upto 30%. Which leaves another 20% for 7, 8 and XS combined. If you’d ask me, the XS sits at a weird spot in this market.
 

The-Real-Deal82

macrumors P6
Jan 17, 2013
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I junk most average users have lost touch with the real world and think phones are something that need to upgraded every year.
I don’t think most average consumers upgrade each year or ever have. It’s techies and people who view their phones as fashion statements who tend to do this. The annual upgrade trend is relatively new but seems to be less popular over the past couple of years as prices have increased further.
 

Lioness~

macrumors 68030
Apr 26, 2017
2,959
3,679
Mars
Is no budget phone.

But they had to present somewhat cheaper phones along with the other phones, so they could raise the prices more on the ‘normal’ phones they released.
 

Gudi

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Absolutely. The Xr is cheaper than the X but the SE and 5C were definitely more "budget" devices than the Xr.
You’re nuts! It’s about value for money, not which price is the lowest natural number. The A7 in the iPhone 5S was not only twice as fast as the A6 in the 5C, it was 64-bit which instantly depreciated all previous ARM CPUs. The 5C was the most expensive paper weight ever build. As everyone could have predicted iOS 11 dropped 32-bit support last year, whereas the only $100 more iPhone 5S is still supported in iOS 12 and beyond. What is or isn’t a bargain is not about what you pay, but about what you get for what you pay. The 5C wasn’t cheap, quite the opposite. The XR isn’t expensive for what you get.
 
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BenTrovato

macrumors 68040
Jun 29, 2012
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Canada
You’re nuts! It’s about value for money, not which price is the lowest natural number. The A7 in the iPhone 5S was not only twice as fast as the A6 in the 5C, it was 64-bit which instantly depreciated all previous ARM CPUs. The 5C was the most expensive paper weight ever build. As everyone could have predicted iOS 11 dropped 32-bit support last year, whereas the only $100 more iPhone 5S is still supported in iOS 12 and beyond. What is or isn’t a bargain is not about what you pay, but about what you get for what you pay. The 5C wasn’t cheap, quite the opposite. The XR isn’t expensive for what you get.

NO, you're nuts! lol just joking around but

I honestly can't believe you would mention the processor in the 5C as one of your arguments. It's 6 years old! We're talking about money not value. You're 100% correct about value but we're not talking about that, we're talking turkey here, cash, money, dollars - nothing to do with whether or not a 32 bit processor is worth the beans in your wallet.
 

Gudi

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Close the thread.
This thread is not about phones, it’s about iPhones and nothing else. iPhones are mobile general purpose computers from Apple. Remember, these are not three separate devices, this is one device! And we are calling it, iPhone. iPhone is just a brand name for a special kind of computer. I'm not interested in how cheap your PC is either.
I honestly can't believe you would mention the processor in the 5C as one of your arguments. It's 6 years old! We're talking about money not value.
The 5S is to the day exactly as old as the 5C and the SE is apart from the processor and camera exactly the same phone as the 5S. Your whole idea of what a budget phone is and how much it should cost stems from the 5 series. But we’re not in Kansas anymore! The market asks for a big screen phone without bezels and a hell of a lot people are willing to pay $999 for the privilege. It’s always about value for money at a certain point in time. If you don’t care about value, why don’t you buy an SE today? It’s only $250 new. Exactly as much as you save when you chose an XR over an XS. The screen to body ratio isn’t optimal on the SE, but you’re talking money not value.
 
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Macalicious2011

macrumors 68000
May 15, 2011
1,723
1,740
London
The Xr isn't a budget or value phone. It's Apple's upper mid-range phone.

Samsung and rivals don't have a like for like model. At Samsung you either buy a flagship or last years model.
 

CalmEnvy

macrumors 6502a
Feb 9, 2008
555
39
Not a budget phone sorry but the Xr is $1029 in Canada. With taxes in Ontario, it works out to being $1162.77. That’s a premium device in my opinion. We still have 2 year contracts with insane prices if you don’t pay full price.

Literally Rogers, Bell and Telus all introduced a new higher tier plan. $10 more a month, 1GB for $120 (Currently you get a bonus 2GB yippie!) Price of iPhone Xs upfront $429 plus tax. Seriously, it’s starting to become a luxury to afford an iPhone up here.

You either have two options in Canada, pay the full price of the phone and find a carrier with decent plans for not so much or pay an insane amount each month for a smaller upfront cost. Just can’t win up here.
 

meme1255

macrumors 6502a
Jul 15, 2012
742
594
Czechia
Not a budget phone sorry but the Xr is $1029 in Canada. With taxes in Ontario, it works out to being $1162.77. That’s a premium device in my opinion. We still have 2 year contracts with insane prices if you don’t pay full price.

Literally Rogers, Bell and Telus all introduced a new higher tier plan. $10 more a month, 1GB for $120 (Currently you get a bonus 2GB yippie!) Price of iPhone Xs upfront $429 plus tax. Seriously, it’s starting to become a luxury to afford an iPhone up here.

You either have two options in Canada, pay the full price of the phone and find a carrier with decent plans for not so much or pay an insane amount each month for a smaller upfront cost. Just can’t win up here.

It is the same in the EU… :(
 

Hernan4651

macrumors member
Feb 25, 2018
87
62
Do you know that it have the same processor, not like the 5c, cause the 7nm is cheaper to produce than 10nm ?
My thought is that they are selling the Xr for the price thats right for the Xs ( 800 maybe)
No way that the Xr is 25% cheaper to produce than the Xs, by only changing the screen and the case.
Anyway, $750 is expensive for that phone. Like people said in this post, that's the flagship price for other companies.
So i think that right now if you own an Iphone 8 or X, keep it another year at least. If not, if you want to save some bucks, buy an iphone 8
 

AppleHaterLover

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2018
2,048
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Apple has a wide selection of expensive (XR), very expensive (XS) and obscenely expensive (XS MAX) and old (rest) phones.

You’re on some serious drugs if you’re able to call the XR “budget”.
 
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mpConroe

macrumors regular
Feb 14, 2017
235
154
Arbroath (UK) / Wroclaw (PL)
Predictions before Keynote were:

$649 XR but it's $749
$899 XS but it's $999
$999 XS Max but it's $1099

3 years ago my 6s Plus was a flagship for $799

$799 for a flagship before and now $749 for the cheapest one. It's not a budget iPhone. $50 it's not a difference.

I'm not a big fan of XR.
I would rather pay more for better phone, that is why I ordered XS 256GB.
 

Gudi

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May 3, 2013
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No way that the Xr is 25% cheaper to produce than the Xs, by only changing the screen and the case.
Oh yes it is! Do you think Apple is suicidal and lowers their profit margin as well as the average selling price? They have to sell a lot more of these XRs anyway to grow year-on-year. Samsung owns OLED technology and charges an arm and a leg for these displays, when sold to the competition. It’s a bit like the Intel monopoly on PC CPUs, the bulk of the profits sticks with one indispensable supplier. There is a (non-technical) reason Apple avoided OLED for so long and is abandoning it only one year later.

As you’ve mentioned 7nm chips lower the price, single camera lowers the price, aluminum frame lowers the price, leaving out 3D Touch lowers the price. The XR is less water-resistant and has slower LTE. Other than that the two phones are remarkably similar, which is precisely the miracle I’m talking about.
Anyway, $750 is expensive for that phone. Like people said in this post, that's the flagship price for other companies.
There are no other companies making iPhones. Stop comparing Apples and Oranges! Last years iPhone 8 was $700. So $750 is not too much for an iPhone XR given the desirable form factor and bigger screen.

010.jpg

So i think that right now if you own an iPhone 8 or X, keep it another year at least. If not, if you want to save some bucks, buy an iPhone 8.
Okay, this years iPhone 8 price is $600. I would still pay up the additional $150 for an XR. If you’re willing to live with bezels, why not buy the iPhone 7 at $450, huh? No one should be buying iPhone 8 anymore.
 
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MrAverigeUser

macrumors 6502a
May 20, 2015
874
386
europe
I would have said the 5C due to the fact it was a plastic version of the iPhone 5 with no spec advantage. The SE had the same processor as the 6S and was a powerful little phone when it launched and not too cheap either.


When there was the iP5 and iP5c people read still technical test of smartphones.... and there were still tests of the smartphones concerning their ability to let you call someone or being able to be called by someone... and seroious testing showed technical advantages just because of the plastic housing:

they were simply better than the 5 or 5s because of their housing and antenna being less disturbed by the metal Faraday-cage of all the other iPhones before and after.
PLUS: they did not need a protection because the plastics was perfectly absorbing the shock once it was falling to ground. In Europe, the 5c was less pricy.

from 1997 to 2012 I had the REAL first smartphone: the Nokia Communicator (BTW: 14 days battery life in stand-by!!!) .
The Nokia ran circles around the iPhone 3/4/5 - I was often able to call and being called when apple-users were just cut-off the networks outside big cities.... the iP5 was the first iPhone more or less acceptable for calls - but not more...
 
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The-Real-Deal82

macrumors P6
Jan 17, 2013
16,365
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Wales, United Kingdom
When there was the iP5 and iP5c people read still technical test of smartphones.... and there were still tests of the smartphones concerning their ability to let you call someone or being able to be called by someone... and seroious testing showed technical advantages just because of the plastic housing:

they were simply better than the 5 or 5s because of their housing and antenna being less disturbed by the metal Faraday-cage of all the other iPhones before and after.
PLUS: they did not need a protection because the plastics was perfectly absorbing the shock once it was falling to ground. In Europe, the 5c was less pricy.

from 1997 to 2012 I had the REAL first smartphone: the Nokia Communicator (BTW: 14 days battery life in stand-by!!!) .
The Nokia ran circles around the iPhone 3/4/5 - I was often able to call and being called when apple-users were just cut-off the networks outside big cities.... the iP5 was the first iPhone more or less acceptable for calls - but not more...
The 5C was a very popular phone where I live with teens and companies looking to save money for their sales teams etc. I use one as an iPod and it’s still surprisingly fast considering it’s a 5 year old device. The one I have was only used for a month and spent years in a drawer before I claimed it though lol.
fa9153db942ef91358ceba4777e7695a.jpg
 

Gudi

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Glass is radio transparent, scratch resistant and even less breakable than plastic. Compared to the hideous glass inlays of the iPhone 5, the 5C was a seemless design beauty. Nonetheless, no responsible buyer should have bought one. The whole tech press was warning them about their mistake, while some crazy people insisted 64-bit was meaningless unless a computer has more than 4GB RAM and TouchID was a gimmick anyway.
 
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