I think you’ll be lucky if it’s under £1500 to be honest. It becomes irrelevant at that point, certainly for the average iPhone user.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Gurman: Apple Considering New High-End iPhone Alongside Pro and Pro Max
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I think you’ll be lucky if it’s under £1500 to be honest. It becomes irrelevant at that point, certainly for the average iPhone user.
I can see laws to make sure the lower incomes have something to buy, but not to set a ceiling
I'm curious to see if people will fall for the It's only $X more psychological trickery, or they won't want to or be able to buy Ultra and buy nothing because they don't want second best
People still fall for that when buying a house, car, subscription to Adobe, the "size up" culture at restaurants, or internet service.
I'd like it better if they didn't, but we would have to improve our education system (particularly in the area of finance) in order to properly train people to recognize that kind of trickery, and then to have the strength of will to resist it.
I've seen a surprising number of folks with the $2000+ Samsung foldables so I'm not so sure
This is interesting to think about. Tim Cook was definitely a major player in Apple's success during the second Jobs era, he kept things running smooth and was the 'supply chain guy' that is referred to. Jobs knew this, and his #1 goal was likely to keep the company from running itself into the ground, as even in 2011 it wasn't exactly clear that Apple would far and away dominate for so long (the 'Holy War with Google' for example kept Jobs busy during his final years).
What I can say with a degree of confidence is that Jobs did not expect so many of his other key players to fall out so quickly after his departure. Between Forstall, whom Jobs had mentored and deeply trusted, and others like Mansfield stepping away only a year into Cook's tenure. As we know now even Ive had largely stepped back only a few years later. Many of Jobs' key players were gone by 2015. Now you leave Cook to run the ship as the last major figure from that old era. By now, once he's gone that's the end of Jobs' direct influence.
We must remember that most CEOs are minor in their actual influence on product development and are mostly just the middle man between the company and its shareholders, Jobs was unique in that he was a product guy as well as a perfect middle man. Cook is an excellent CEO, but he will leave his successors with a degree of confusion indeed. Hopefully he is around to aid in the transition to a successor.
Not in my part of the world. I’m yet to see a single person with a 14 Pro so a £2k Samsung would be as rare as rocking horse poo here. The regular iPhones are more relevant in my part of Western Europe and it comes down to competitive pricing.
Nice idea. There are people that use their iPhones in ways that make having an Ultra model make sense
Enhance the Ultra give it capabilities that no other iPhone comes close to having and this Ultra model will be a winner
Apple make it superb so that it’s irresistible!
Enhance the Ultra give it capabilities that no other iPhone comes close to having and this Ultra model will be a winner
Apple make it superb so that it’s irresistible!
I’d rather Apple bring slightly thinner bezels, Thunderbolt 4 USB-C with full data throughput for exporting ProRes & ProRAW
Killer feature would be for FCP to be able to edit ON device storage or import and export to iPhone Pro & ultra series along with carrying for photo editing softwares preferences for camera to the iPhone !!
It’ll be like having your pro SLR cameras best settings that are exported and edited into the editing software preset on the iPhone. All of your choice! Change in device at will and creativity of the content capture would explode
You’re explaining exactly what the iPhone and iPhone pro series are doing and have done for 3yrs now.
iPhone 12/13
iPhone Pro/Pro Max & iPhone/iphone mini
iPhone 14
iPhone Pro/Pro Max & iPhone/iPhone Plus
It works with SE for the budget focused on the higher low to midrange price category. This should never go beyond 128GB safe the higher storage chips for the main & top tier models.
So here is just a wishlist (which seems reasonable if you look at what Apple has done in the past) and if something like this came out I would certainly pay for it:
-2024 release
-$1300 starting price
-A18 Ultra SoC (so would just name the regular iPhone one "A18" and the Pro "A18 Pro"
-8GB RAM (seems like this is also rumored for phones coming out this year)
-512 gb starting (seems like this would make sense given that they do tend to push what the minimum is in their phones every few years)
-6.9 mini led screen (to my knowledge there is a phone or two already out at these dimensions but nothing bigger)
-titanium frame with thinner bezels. Same footprint as Max (Titanium seems like that would be a sure bet despite it being rumored for the Pro line)
-Smaller Dynamic island
-Magnetic but also some sort of usb c charging maybe waterproofed? (I dunno man)
-Higher megapixel camera when taking raw images (96?)
-Apple Pencil 2 support
-A magnetic case/ Smart Cover that folds over to hold pencil in as well
With Apple Pencil 2 support apps such as Freeform, Procreate Pocket and more come to life.
-2024 release
-$1300 starting price
-A18 Ultra SoC (so would just name the regular iPhone one "A18" and the Pro "A18 Pro"
-8GB RAM (seems like this is also rumored for phones coming out this year)
-512 gb starting (seems like this would make sense given that they do tend to push what the minimum is in their phones every few years)
-6.9 mini led screen (to my knowledge there is a phone or two already out at these dimensions but nothing bigger)
-titanium frame with thinner bezels. Same footprint as Max (Titanium seems like that would be a sure bet despite it being rumored for the Pro line)
-Smaller Dynamic island
-Magnetic but also some sort of usb c charging maybe waterproofed? (I dunno man)
-Higher megapixel camera when taking raw images (96?)
-Apple Pencil 2 support
-A magnetic case/ Smart Cover that folds over to hold pencil in as well
With Apple Pencil 2 support apps such as Freeform, Procreate Pocket and more come to life.
I wish they'd put some thought into the other end of the market/product lineup. If they want to go big and expensive - $799+ - on the flagship stuff, fine. Go right ahead. There will always be those buyers.
But throw us other loyal customers, who will never spend $800-1,000 on a phone, something. The SE has been that thing, of course. But it sounds like there may be not further development on that, according to an article here a few days ago. So is $599 (for a two-generation-old model) going to be the best we can hope for, after nearly seven years of a sub-$500 option? That's really unfortunate.
I'm hoping those rumors of the demise(?) of the SE are inaccurate or missing something. Apple has sold a ~$400 iPhone for seven years now. With things the way they are, the thought of them no longer doing so once they decide the current SE has run its course, concerns me.
But throw us other loyal customers, who will never spend $800-1,000 on a phone, something. The SE has been that thing, of course. But it sounds like there may be not further development on that, according to an article here a few days ago. So is $599 (for a two-generation-old model) going to be the best we can hope for, after nearly seven years of a sub-$500 option? That's really unfortunate.
I'm hoping those rumors of the demise(?) of the SE are inaccurate or missing something. Apple has sold a ~$400 iPhone for seven years now. With things the way they are, the thought of them no longer doing so once they decide the current SE has run its course, concerns me.
Last edited:
Makes sense. The iPhone is in a unique situation where the more expensive (and profitable) models are also the more popular ones. There certainly appears to be room for even higher-priced iPhone Pro models while keeping budget-friendly iPhone models at their current price.
The regular (non-Pro) iPhones seem to be the most popular from what I have seen. It would be nice if Apple invested a bit more effort into that line as it’s gotten very boring for those who don’t spend £1200+.
You can buy a product that I've had for over two years. It's called CPlay2Air. Once you set it up as soon as you start your compatible auto with your iPhone in the car your phone will wirelessly connect with CarPlay. You will have the same access to everything that you have with wired CarPlay. What I don't like is the fact that battery cases need the Lightning port for charging the phone. I don't know if the battery case manufacturers can build wireless charging into their cases. And there are several other devices such as devices that will do heat readings that require the Lightning port. I think it would be a bad idea. At least give the manufacturers of all devices that connect via Lightning a couple of years to design replacement devices that will work wirelessly.1. buy a new carDD
2. stay with old phone
my question would be - why wired CarPlay exists in the first place.
Not sure haven't used a battery case since they nixed the Smart Battery Case
I know Mophie did too because I have the one for the 8 on my SE2, and it wirelessly charges.
Titanium instead of Aluminium
MicroLED screen
Built-in periscopic lens camera
AR Sensor array to benefit vros
More microphones
Temperature gauge / external
50m waterproof
Underwater photo mode
wifi 6, bt 5.3
And most importantly to me, it'll have the ability to function as a mid-range Mac.
These are my dreams, I guess… I also think iPads should be able to be booted into MacOS, but no one asked me.
MicroLED screen
Built-in periscopic lens camera
AR Sensor array to benefit vros
More microphones
Temperature gauge / external
50m waterproof
Underwater photo mode
wifi 6, bt 5.3
And most importantly to me, it'll have the ability to function as a mid-range Mac.
These are my dreams, I guess… I also think iPads should be able to be booted into MacOS, but no one asked me.
This is the article that made me made enough to register after lurking for years. The iPhone lineup has become a complete disaster, and it's honestly ridiculous. I feel like there hasn't been a 'wow' moment for the product since FaceTime or Siri were introduced. My 14 Pro was stolen so I'm back on an 11, and it's shocking how little I miss the few features between those three generations. Years of innovation and all we got was slightly better cameras and a brighter screen?
Tim Apple won't want to admit it, but the time has come for Apple to start bringing some of the prices down. Simplify the lineup, and keep an appealing offer to lower-income/teens and families/startup businesses like the XR was.
EDIT: Let's also get some better TRADE IN offers. There's even less incentive to upgrade when a new iPhone gets such a paltry amount back from Apple. The 11 Pro I'm using is functionally worthless according to them!
Tim Apple won't want to admit it, but the time has come for Apple to start bringing some of the prices down. Simplify the lineup, and keep an appealing offer to lower-income/teens and families/startup businesses like the XR was.
EDIT: Let's also get some better TRADE IN offers. There's even less incentive to upgrade when a new iPhone gets such a paltry amount back from Apple. The 11 Pro I'm using is functionally worthless according to them!
Lurking for years, but it took 7 weeks to register and reply to this 7-week old thread?
sorry, does stalking older articles and posts not count as lurking? relax
A slight disagreement with your wording. Most CEOs might have minor DIRECT influence, yes.
But "New CEO" within the last 2 years is actually one of my investing critieria. I won't avoid buying a stock if the CEO isn't new, but if all other things are equal and I can only buy one of two stocks, I'll pick the one that has a new CEO or a new product they've brought to market within the last few quarters.
It can make a huge difference. Leadership (or lack thereof) always descends from the top of any organization. So you might say Cook isn't Jobs and while that's true, Apple did indeed bring many key new products and services to market...and also make big earnings increases year-over-year AFTER the transition to Cook.
A lesser man, or maybe a prouder man in the role of CEO for Apple might have been less successful. Maybe a lot less successful. A micromanager might have been less successful too. But if all the other signs point to green lights, then I'll go with what works. New CEO and New Product/Service work.
I actually don't know if Tim Cook is an excellent CEO. He may very well be. But he seems to be happy to be mostly "hands off", which is a good thing if you already have the underpinnings for success.
That's why "new" CEO is a thing for me as an investor, and not "excellent" CEO. Not even "greenest" or "most socially aware" CEO. None of those budge the needle, and neither does race, gender, or social ideology of the CEO. "New" CEO is the fuel. So is "New Product or Service". But again, only if other signs (such as past and future earnings growth rates, sales, margin and ROE, etc) also point in the right direction.
I didn't invent this, by the way. The above is from the "CANSLIM" investing methodology.
You're fine; don't sweat it.
Edit: You actually receive an email notification when somebody updates a thread you posted in. That's what caused me to come here 7 weeks later.
And to your point about the product lineup being a disaster, my feeling is hmmmm... a "strong me'h" about the whole thing. There's no sense in getting worked up about product lineup. Well, unless I hold the stock and it's gone down 50%, that is. But then I'd be mad at myself.
Also, to clarify: I am not saying Apple stock is a "buy" right now, neither because of nor not because of the CEO. It's definitely looking better than it was a few months ago, but it still needs some time to work out the kinks. Plus, their debt is too high for my comfort level. The number of mutual funds owning AAPL stock has also fallen in the last quarter. Also, it's less than a month until they come out with earnings. Earnings announcements could have volatile repercussions on the stock price. And of earnings for Apple, I'm concerned that Earnings will fall for FY 2023 and is projected to only grow by 10% in 2024.
All of that to say that maybe Apple needs some new products. That 10% earnings growth rate is kind of small for Apple. But even for a lesser company, 10% is still a small rate of growth, and it might be hard for the fund managers to get excited about it.
Apple Watch Ultra looks like a great product Mr. Cook, and I might even buy one. But you really need to bring it. And a new watch, if it doesn't morph into an autobot for me, is not "bringing it".
Last edited:
Why you think I'm still on my X? Every fall I visit the Apple Store and I check out the new iPhone then say to myself, you really don't need this.
I don’t see a reason to get mad but I also think that many folks are getting tired of the perpetual treadmill of minor upgrades and higher prices. The Mac lineup is the same thing in my opinion. At a certain point what is the value of a pro vs a standard iPhone for 80% of people out there. Someone always will pay for the best but it’s not the majority of users.