Higher-End 4.7 and 5.5-Inch iPhone 6 to Get Sapphire Displays, Higher Price Tags

[Born Again]

An inessential, desirable item that is expensive or difficult to obtain:
"luxuries like raspberry vinegar and state-of-the-art CD players"
"he considers bananas a luxury"
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/luxury

High-end would be a synonym. I think most people would consider an iPhone a high-end smartphone when viewing the smartphone market.

There are high end bluray players
There are high end speakers
There are high end cars
The iPhone is not high end when the retail price is the same is other competitive phones.

You're falling for the illusion that the iPhone costs more money because it doesn't!

Apple is making $$$ off iPhones not selling it at a loss so you can afford a "high end" phone!!!!

So NO the iPhone is neither high end nor luxury.

It's a HIGH QUALITY PRODUCT!!!!! Ding ding ding!!!!!!!!!!! We have a frrakin winner

 

[TTile]

There are high end bluray players
The iPhone is not high end when the retail price is the same is other competitive phones.

So because there are competitors at the iPhone's price point you're saying that the iPhone can't be high end? That doesn't make any sense to me.

The high end phones on the market include the S5, 5s, HTC One M8, etc. These phones all retail for over 600.00 and have the bleeding edge technology in terms of hardware. And to go further, in terms of hardware, you can't do much better than what these phones offer. You absolutely 'get your money's worth' by purchasing one of these phones.

A high end smartphone market exits. The iPhone belongs in this category.

 

[Azzin]

iPhone 6? No. iPhone Air and iPhone Air+

iPhone 4.7"= iPhone Air.
iPhone 5.5"= iPhone Pro.

I still think the current 5S will become the new "C", complete with Touch ID etc, but available in a wider range of colours.

 

[Azzin]

thats pretty stupid. not everyone needs 64GB

speaking of so much space ... how come the iPhone doesnt have USB 3? it must be a pain in the d to synch

I can't remember the last time I actually sync'd my iPhone.

I don't use iTunes, which I guess accounts for a lot of sync-ing (i use Spotify) and I do take a fair few photos (which every so often I import into iPhoto), on the occasions before that, I used wifi sync-ing, but I don't ever recall thinking "I really wish my phone had USB 3" because it was slow.

Perhaps that was simply because I didn't sync much data though.

 

[Azzin]

Well iPhone is synonymous with iOS smartphones for this comparison but I suppose I'll just say iOS in the future.

The global smartphone marketshare for the iPhone/iOS is around 20%, the US marketshare is around 50%. These stats are misleading as the phones sold in the iOS ecosystem compete primarily on the high-end and not in the low-end, high volume smartphone market. It is like saying BMW isn't doing well because they only are a small percentage of global car sales even though they dominate the high-end market. However, the difference between BMW and Apple is that BMW has to compete with very strong competitors (Audi, Lexus, and Mercedes). Apple really has no competitors in this space (besides Samsung who has seen essentially no growth in their high-end smartphones year over year). So yes, I would agree with you. The iPhone has crushed the competition and I really don't see any smartphone makers encroaching on Apple's position anytime soon. Perhaps they should take a page out of Toyota's book and create an entirely new "luxury/high-end" brand (which was Lexus for Toyota) and sell phones only in the high-end market, following Apple's model.

Great post (even if the lack of paragraphs made my eyes bleed a little! ).

I don't consider the Samsung Galaxy to be at all luxurious.

In fact, I think it's cheap and tacky looking.

I think people have started to realise that charging iPhone prices for your product, doesn't give Samsung an equivalent device and that's part of the reason Samsung's financial figures are down.

Buying an iPhone isn't just about the tangible product in your hand, it's about being part of an experience, being able to go into a store to have your phone repaired/replaced, being made to feel special by the blue shirt wearing employees in that store, etc etc.

Samsung can continue to charge iPhone money for their phones all they like, but until they can stand shoulder to shoulder with Apple and offer everything that Apple does (and how they do it), then in my eyes their products will always be inferior wannabes.

 

[Dave245]

iPhone 4.7"= iPhone Air.
iPhone 5.5"= iPhone Pro.

I still think the current 5S will become the new "C", complete with Touch ID etc, but available in a wider range of colours.

That would be a great line up, the 5S could also remain for those that don't want a bigger screen, that way Apple is catering to everyone. Still unsure if there will be a 5.5" tho, but only a matter of weeks until we find out

 

[KohPhiPhi]

I'd like to buy an iPhone 6 Fragile Edition then! Seriously though, I'm not sure I'm willing to pay, say, $50-100 extra for sapphire glass. Glass that I have never, ever needed.

Agreed. I've never had any of my previous iPhones scratched.

 

[bananas]

Introducing the new iPhone screen

The ideal material for a smart phone screen is something between glass and sapphire. While glass is too soft and scratches easily, sapphire is too hard and would shatter. Because we couldn't make glass any harder, we took some sapphire and made it softer.

Just joking, don't take it too seriously

 

[jimbo1mcm]

Screen Pricing

My last 2 Iphone screens were fine. I never scratched them and I didn't use a screen protector. If Apple offers a sapphire screen for up to $50 more, than I will get it, but there is no way I'm paying $100 more for a screen technology that I don't need.

 

[Mr Fusion]

This is one of the more ridiculous rumors I've heard in a while... Pay $100 extra for a screen that scratches a little less?

I guess that whole "doubling down on secrecy" is working, as this website is apparently out of relevant source material.

 

[Black Magic]

That would be a great line up, the 5S could also remain for those that don't want a bigger screen, that way Apple is catering to everyone. Still unsure if there will be a 5.5" tho, but only a matter of weeks until we find out

I don't know on the name iPhone Pro. Doesn't add up. Larger doesn't mean professional. I say iPhone Air, iPhone Air+ or Just iPhone +

 

[sinfonye]

So i paid €700 last year in Belfast for a 16GB iphone travelled up from Dublin since the Irish release date takes forever, how much more can it be like €700 is crazy as it is for a phone even though i swear by my iPhone but more money just seems crazy to be honest

It's not a phone. It's a miniature, portable computer with built-in connectivity, a bucket-load of sophisticated sensors, a decent camera, and solid-state storage. Mobile phone providers have conditioned us to think that devices should be cheap when they're mostly subsidised to the hilt.
Compare it with the cost of a camera, laptop etc., and then work out how much use you get from it in relation.

 

[mildmannered]

Hi, first post, but avid lurker.

I have pondered over the possibility that they will launch two sizes, but not as many have predicted.

I think that a 4 inch model (in the screen proportions of the 4s) would be popular. Maybe even branded as the "Nano"? Many of the existing games/apps would would then still be supported and would suit those that prefer a smaller form factor.

Then the 4.7" - which is larger than the current 5s, would target those preferring a larger display.

Personally speaking, I would love a 5.5" model, and think a small/medium/large range would offer brilliant consumer choice and would capture an even greater share of the Android market for those with different needs/wants.

But whatever new phones they launch, it will be interesting to see what they continue to sell? Surely they'll drop the 4S this time around?

 

[dilbert99]

Whats the most you guys would pay for a premium phone? I see a lot of people on here complaining all the time. Nickel and Dime.

Personally, if the 5.5 started at 399 and went up to 599....I wouldn't complain. Nor do i think i would complain at entry level 499 pricing if the phone is stacked with high end parts. 2GB, 13MP Camera, Sapphire, etc.

Sorry, but I guess I don't live on the same planet ;-) No where one earth should an iPhone cost more than a 13" Macbook Air

Subsidised [unsubsidised]
iPhone 5s 64gb 399 [849]
your no complaints price 599 [1049]
13" Macbook Air 999 [999]

----------

Scratches make the screen weaker; screens that have cracked usually crack along pre-existing scratches.

Screens that have cracked are attached to phones that have had an issue with gravity ;-)

 

[Mr Fusion]

Sorry, but I guess I don't live on the same planet ;-) No where one earth should an iPhone cost more than a 13" Macbook Air

Subsidised [unsubsidised]
iPhone 5s 64gb 399 [849]
your no complaints price 599 [1049]
13" Macbook Air 999 [999]

Are you attempting to interject logic and common sense into a MacRumors thread? HEATHEN!!!

 

[samcraig]

If there is a premium for one kind of screen over an other (unless it's also about pixels and size) to me is a mistake.

I don't think Sapphire alone is a selling point to most. I think they should either commit to Sapphire and keep the cost the same OR raise it across the board.

Now - perhaps they mean that if the iPhone comes out in 16/32/64/128 models and the 128 is Sapphire only and incurs a premium as well, that a little more palatable.

 

[dilbert99]

Are you attempting to interject logic and common sense into a MacRumors thread? HEATHEN!!!

I guess you got me on that one

 

[HEK]

Aluminum is luxurious? Since when? That's downright funny. Aluminum is what window frames are made of.

When the Washington Monument was built the most luxurious, rarest metal was used to cap the very top. The metal used was aluminum. Everything is relative to the times.

 

[AdonisSMU]

The logical conclusion, based on this article, is that the 5.5" iPhone will be the more expensive high end iPhone, and that the 4.7" iPhone will not.

Maybe there will be high end versions of both models sizes. The only difference is the size like the mini and the air ipads...

 

[HEK]

Screens that have cracked are attached to phones that have had an issue with gravity ;-)

Gravity is not the problem. It's the sudden stop when floor gets in the way. ;-)

 

[Milese3]

Hopefully like the yet to be announced 128GB model!

Yeah- I guess that could make sense. I think Apple should drop the 16GB model, because it's way too small for a phone. In the past, when I owned 16GB iDevices, the lack of storage was always a problem.

 

[Moto G]

Everyone's got too much spare time, too much arrogance and too much opinion, which they think too much OF.

They're just phones - they won't fulfil you, you're chasing fulfilment and never finding it.

 

[Mr Fusion]

When the Washington Monument was built the most luxurious, rarest metal was used to cap the very top. The metal used was aluminum. Everything is relative to the times.

... Yeah something's relative to the times alright, but it's not the Washington Monument circa 1884.

Aluminum is used because it's cheap, gets the job done, and allows Jony Ive to continue mispronouncing it in random videos. He will continue using this material until he dies. It's not luxurious, it's cheap.

CHEAP!!!

 

[Mago]

Yeah- I guess that could make sense. I think Apple should drop the 16GB model, because it's way too small for a phone. In the past, when I owned 16GB iDevices, the lack of storage was always a problem.

I disagree, more since Apple acquired Beats, since now they will focus on music streaming users don't need that much storage, but if I have large storage for music it's less likely I'll use streaming since it's more likely I have all my favorite music with me.

On the other hand, previously was a solid rumour on HD music this requires 6-10 times the storage per title than non-losless music, this scenario it's plausible for Apple to axe the 16GB model since also 32gb will feel like 8gb on lossless hd audio.

Also consider how cheap is flash memory now, apple could easily sell the 32 GB model at 16gb price point and assume the extra (if any) cost compared with previous year.

So I give you a 50:50 chance on the continuity of the 16GB model at least this year.

 

[ValO]

I think it will come down to this:

It' s all about margins.

The base models iphone 6 4.7 and 5.5 (stil 16 gb?), and Perhaps the 32 gb will be regular glass.

For a 100 bucks more you will get a 64 gb model with sapphire.

The margins on more memory iphones are much higher.(they charge 100 bucks more for 10 bucks of parts). Now they will also give you a spapphire screen for " free" on top of the extra memory.

It will be the usp of the 64 and 128 gb iphone 6' s.

And they will sell it , because we want it. They will sell millions of these.