Thanks on the explanation of 120 - still seems like a solution for a problem I'm not experiencing. Haven't seen anything disruptive to me in scrolling, nor any eyestrain. I appreciate the answer though.
Cost to Apple - yes, the materials cost differential to Apple of 64 vs 128GB is not much. Nor, presumably, is the cost of the 5W bricks. With (admittedly inferior) devices selling for 50-60 cents each in volume on Alibaba, which includes covering overhead costs and profit for those companies, surely the cost to Apple of their 5W bricks cannot be much higher; I'd guess still under $1 each.
Thus if Apple were to pass along their cost savings of the 5W bricks, phone prices would drop $1. Maybe $2. That's just noise in the light of all the various other costs / changes - not to mention inflation. $999 this time last year is effectively $1012.70 today per
consumer price index calculator @ BLS. So did Apple reduce other manuf costs to compensate despite retooling production lines? Are they taking less effective revenue? Anything about whether Apples costs are higher or lower relative to the price is a complete guess for we who are outside the company and cannot see the detail cost analysis.
Price / Positioning - I note that with the introduction of the 12mini, it takes the pricepoint the 11 had last year, with the 11/XR/SE stair stepping down from there. From a marketing and product positioning stance, it then makes sense for the 12 to be higher priced - even though it represents an increase from last year. Remember too that cost has little relevance to product pricing for non-commodity goods. What matters is consumer willingness to pay.
As for 64 being a "low spec" - remember also that Apple doesn't necessarily chase specs nor do they necessarily cater to the propellerheads and power users. I suspect if you were to look at the phones of the typical consumer you'd find they're not anywhere near filling 64GB. Of my non-techie friends and family I don't know one that's done so; all have been fine with base storage. Even my phone has a bunch leftover at 64GB capacity and I'm the most techie of the bunch of us.
class packaging.