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Gurman: Apple Considering New High-End iPhone Alongside Pro and Pro Max

So when iPhone sales are down, the strategy is to stagnate the existing flagship, then make a brand new even higher flagship that’s even more expensive and move all the improvements into that?

I guess Apple can keep doing this indefinitely. There is no shortage of adjectives they can use as names.

Mega
Giga
Ultimate
Omega
End Game
Ludicrous
Plaid
Unbelievable
Holy Moly
…
(Not sure these are in the right order.)
 
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Hoyboy said:
You must be a shareholder for Apple. This is the only justification I can make for your comments, as it isn’t healthy to be this defensive / cultish / fanboy-ish over a COMPANY that is run by people who frankly couldn’t give 2 f*cks about what you think of it.

How anyone can sit there and be HAPPY that a company is raising its average price per unit yearly is beyond me. It is anti consumer, pro shareholder.

So again I’ll say it again, you must be a shareholder, otherwise you need to give your head a wobble if you are happy to hand over more money to a company producing increasingly more buggy software / products.
Click to expand...
Vote with your $$$. It’s not as if Apple is the only game in town. If apple makes enough mistakes then they will feel it and come to an equilibrium.
 
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subjonas said:
So when iPhone sales are down, the strategy is to stagnate the existing flagship, then make a brand new even higher flagship that’s even more expensive and move all the improvements into that?

I guess Apple can keep doing this indefinitely. There is no shortage of adjectives they can use as names for new flagships.

Mega
Giga
Ultimate
Omega
End Game
Ludicrous
Plaid
Unbelievable
Holy Moly
…
(Not sure these are in the right order.)
Click to expand...

iPhone Holy Moly would have the crowd in raptures ..

 
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fatTribble said:
What do people who have wired CarPlay do when their iPhone has no port?
Click to expand...

CarlinKit 3.0 - U2W plus-Carlinkit Official Website | Smart Driving Safe Traveling

Carlinkit Official Website | Smart Driving Safe Traveling_As an innovative company specializing in the development of connected car products,We are fully committed to the research and development, application and promotion of multi-screen interactive products.
www.carlinkit.com www.carlinkit.com

That’s what I do, my wired CarPlay is very picky on cables. Switched to wireless CarPlay, though my car has wired only support.
 
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Kierkegaarden said:
Do you think that any products with a high price point exist only to rob customers? There are many products across all markets that have high price points — these continue to exist because of demand — nobody is being forced to purchase them.
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I have no issues with a high price item if they are worth the money and have truly been crafted to be the best possible for the consumer.

I buy items from Louis Vuitton. They are highly priced but their products are of a high quality. I have a wallet I paid £400 for and I've used for 3-4 years now and it looks as new as the day I purchased it. So to me that was worth the high price.

My issue was Apple is that their high prices exist only to extort the customer. The technology inside doesn't add up to the price tag.

Before Apple would have one iPhone and one iPad differentiated by screen size and storage alone. They were never separated really by features. Every iPhone and iPad had the same latest and greatest features.

Now for instance Apple has the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro. I didn't agree with this separation because there was no reason they couldn't put the latest tech and features on the iPhone 14 and leave it at that with the same lower price points.

The only reason they created the Pro line was to try and justify the price increases for features that have been on the market for decades and would be cheap to source. Technology prices fall not increase overtime. This pricing strategy all began with iPhone X in 2017 when they jumped from the iPhone 7 to the X with a £450 price hike. They claimed the OLED and Face ID was the reasoning. Both technologies had been around for at least a decade by then.
 
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If Apple says that this new model is going to have better mics, better cameras, better video recording, better screen HDR, better connectivity, I'll ask you this: who are they aiming for with this device? Content creators?

So, if those are the people they should just call it iPhone Studio.
 
UK-MacAddict said:
I have no issues with a high price item if they are worth the money and have truly been crafted to be the best possible for the consumer.

I buy items from Louis Vuitton. They are highly priced but their products are of a high quality. I have a wallet I paid £400 for and I've used for 3-4 years now and it looks as new as the day I purchased it. So to me that was worth the high price.

My issue was Apple is that their high prices exist only to extort the customer. The technology inside doesn't add up to the price tag.

Before Apple would have one iPhone and one iPad differentiated by screen size and storage alone. They were never separated really by features. Every iPhone and iPad had the same latest and greatest features.

Now for instance Apple has the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro. I didn't agree with this separation because there was no reason they couldn't put the latest tech and features on the iPhone 14 and leave it at that with the same lower price points.

The only reason they created the Pro line was to try and justify the price increases for features that have been on the market for decades and would be cheap to source. Technology prices fall not increase overtime. This pricing strategy all began with iPhone X in 2017 when they jumped from the iPhone 7 to the X with a £450 price hike. They claimed the OLED and Face ID was the reasoning. Both technologies had been around for at least a decade by then.
Click to expand...
New tech increases not decreases. And you’re criticizing over a rumor without actual fact. Most tech in autos have been around for decades. Why don’t autos cost $1000?
 
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It seems clear to me that Apple is sailing into troubled waters. Since 2015/2016 the iPhone and iPad sales numbers are down (and why they no longer report numbers sold, just revenue) and to keep Wall Street happy, they have been nudging up the prices and moving people to buy more expensive models to increase the average price per device. First, the launch of the iPhone X to test the market appetite for a $999 phone and then the iPhone XS Max to test the appetite for a $1099 phone and then making certain features exclusive to the Pro Max models. As has been noted, this has left the regular iPhone looking like an afterthought. To give a UK-based example, the base iPhone 14 costs £849. Last week, it was possible to buy an iPhone 14 on 24 month contract with 100 GB/month data for £535 all-in - it seems clear the iPhone 14 is not selling... The rumours are also reporting poor sales of the iPhone 14 Plus meaning people are not wanting to be fobbed off by a lackluster iPhone. My guess is that the Plus will stick around in 2023 and then be replaced by the Ultra to wring a bit more $$$ out of the marks. I would predict that it will sell quite well, but it would decimate Pro Max sales - especially if the Pro Max becomes another poor cousin like a lot of the 6.1" Pros have been.

The big gamble for Apple is whether, heading into a financial slow-down/recession, there will be enough people will to stump up the extra. There will always be the fanboys and people that will buy it because it's the top model, but I would guess that a percentage of Pro Max buyers will be priced out. There is also the risk that Apple will be left with a lot of iPhones, Pros and Pro Max models left unsold that they may have to reduce to get sold which doesn't help the average selling price.

Steve certainly did hand-pick Tim to lead Apple, but we don't know the details - was he just supposed to steer the ship until a new visionary took over (remember Scott Forstall?)? Was he supposed to still be in charge 10 years later? I don't think we'll every know. I don't like the fact that he doesn't do any of the product announcements, I don't like the fact that he has caved to Wall Street demands to keep profits and the share price rising to make investors happy in the short term. I don't like that he is trying to have a product for every price point: it's just too confusing - try explaining the iPad line-up to someone that doesn't follow Apple. Raising the product prices and/or pushing people to buy more upmarket versions has certainly worked since device numbers started to fall, but at some point you push them too high (especially in a downturn) and revenue will fall off a cliff.

I would definitely echo the call for simplification to a maximum of 4 models.
 
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contacos said:
At this point what is even the point … same OS, same Apps, no matter which fairly recent device you use, you’ll end up using it the exact same way.

Their whole price strategy is getting weird. The top of the line is getting out of reach for a lot of people but why settle for something „not as great“. Might as well stick to what I already have and simply buy nothing new at all
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Gonna have to actually agree with this—all of it, to be truthful. I’ve had pretty much every major flagship/highest end trim of the iPhone since the 2nd one (3GS). You do basically end up using them all the same, virtually.
This year more than ever, they did do a more distinct difference between the iPhone 14 regulars and 14 Pro models by having the 14 regulars have the 13 Pro series’ processor and cameras, and the Pro versions were more different than the base models with the 48mp camera, and brighter screen and new processor.

The thing is, so many iPhone users are essentially the most BASIC of smartphone users, and they tend to value the physical change of the exterior of the phone more of a priority rather than having the phone have more unique power-user features. A lot of people, I think Apple realizes, who use iPhone only get on social media, send emails, take the same crappy portrait mode videos and iMessage/FaceTime friends. To be honest, the majority of the user base isn’t really demanding Apple do anything fun or risky with the iPhone.
 
acblue94 said:
It’s actually
iPhone Mini
iPhone Pro
iPhone Ultra

Both sizes of iPhone pro are the same phone. Different sizes only.
Click to expand...

Naw.

iPhone Performa
iPhone Centris
iPhone Quadra


I'm not a doomsayer, and think Cook has done a good job, but the direction the company seems to be going in taking product segmentation to the nth degree, and having less product discipline, is a bit reminiscent of the period when Apple flailed technologically, the product lineup bloated, and the company lacked overall focus.

Apple Silicon is great, but doesn't do anything that users can't already do, and annual speed bumps in existing form factors isn't breaking any new ground.

Not to say history will repeat itself, but there was only one Jobs, he's dead, and can't come back to turn the company around again.

Can't ignore a sense of déjà vu.
 
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I’m no techie, but I have beven obsessed with everything tech for quite a few years. All the podcasts, websites, message boards. I have also been gullible enough to buy a new high end iPhone nearly every year since the 10. However, my interest is waning, approaching the tipping point, & starting to make me resent Apple, although they are certainly not alone in the greed. Combine that with the disintegration of social media sites, which was a good excuse to use the phones more often, my interest in phones is now largely the camera, the music, and texting my family. I may not need a formal intervention after all…. The slick BS Apple has used to reel me in is losing its grip.
 
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autumnpatchouli said:
I’m no techie, but I have beven obsessed with everything tech for quite a few years. All the podcasts, websites, message boards. I have also been gullible enough to buy a new high end iPhone nearly every year since the 10. However, my interest is waning, approaching the tipping point, & starting to make me resent Apple, although they are certainly not alone in the greed. Combine that with the disintegration of social media sites, which was a good excuse to use the phones more often, my interest in phones is now largely the camera, the music, and texting my family. I may not need a formal intervention after all…. The slick BS Apple has used to reel me in is losing its grip.
Click to expand...
That's a really good thing that is happening to you, it is unhealthy (financially and mentally) to obsess over the latest and greatest. Removing most social media from my phone was the best decision ever. It's called growing up and maturing.
 
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autumnpatchouli said:
I’m no techie, but I have beven obsessed with everything tech for quite a few years. All the podcasts, websites, message boards. I have also been gullible enough to buy a new high end iPhone nearly every year since the 10. However, my interest is waning, approaching the tipping point, & starting to make me resent Apple, although they are certainly not alone in the greed. Combine that with the disintegration of social media sites, which was a good excuse to use the phones more often, my interest in phones is now largely the camera, the music, and texting my family. I may not need a formal intervention after all…. The slick BS Apple has used to reel me in is losing its grip.
Click to expand...
Yep, totally agree. Here's why I'm beginning to dislike Apple:
  • INSANELY expensive products on the high end that aren't even close in performance to their PC counterparts
  • Lack of expandability/upgradability
  • Lack of software support compared to Windows/Linux
  • Proprietary parts in all of their devices
My point being that it would be insanely stupid for Apple to release a "higher-end iPhone"--it just doesn't make any sense!
 
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autumnpatchouli said:
I’m no techie, but I have beven obsessed with everything tech for quite a few years. All the podcasts, websites, message boards. I have also been gullible enough to buy a new high end iPhone nearly every year since the 10. However, my interest is waning, approaching the tipping point, & starting to make me resent Apple, although they are certainly not alone in the greed. Combine that with the disintegration of social media sites, which was a good excuse to use the phones more often, my interest in phones is now largely the camera, the music, and texting my family. I may not need a formal intervention after all…. The slick BS Apple has used to reel me in is losing its grip.
Click to expand...
You have to do what’s best for you. Tim will do what’s best for apple. If both of you don’t meet in the middle, you move on I guess.

But remember this is still a rumor.
 
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trhoffmann said:
Assuming ProMotion, which would be a given for this device, I’d trade my iPad Mini 6 for this 7” Phone.
Click to expand...

I’d trade all my Apple devices for it, but even if Apple went all out in something like that I’m sure they’d skimp somewhere like keep going with 6gb ram or something. I still feel like Apple should just jump to at least 12, and that it would fix a lot of the problems we currently see.
 
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At this point, I’m just seeing how long I can make it along with my iPhone XR before I have to absolutely purchase another iPhone. Tim Cook is doing an outstanding job of pricing me out of the market for Macs and iPads Pros (that’s mostly iPadOS’s fault), Watches that are fine but nothing so much better that my Series 3 can’t make it another year or two. I would like a HomePod mini and an AppleTV, but I just find myself giving Apple less and less of my money each year as the value proposition just isn’t worth it. I’m as capitalist as the next person, but even I am at the point where I just look at Apple and ask, “When is it enough?”. Maybe I am being myopic, but Apple just feels more like a cash generation machine that used to be an innovative tech company once upon a time.
 
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