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iPhone Air's Resale Value Has Dropped Dramatically, Data Shows
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What was the point of this phone again? What’s really weird is all the Apple bloggers/podcasters who criticized the company in the past for being to obsessed with ‘thinness’ didn’t seem to have any problem with this phone and in many cases defended it. But all the signs point to it being a flop.
Exactly. Apple has a hurdle rate and if a product doesn’t meet or exceed it it’s time to drop it. That is separate from whether the Air is a good product; which strictly a buyer decision. Apple experience with the Air will influence future product decisions and market assumptions.
The trade in / resale numbers are a bit misleading because they need to leave room for their markup. If you assume a 44% drop and a ~50% margin, prices would more likely reflect around ~20% drop at retail. That’s likely only slightly better than Apple’s typically 15% cheaper refurb pricing when it becomes available.
I'll be that guy. I don't think the mini will make a come back, nor would it likely sell much better than the Air, but I do think it makes more sense in the line up because it offers a more beneficial form factor change from the rest of the line up than the Air does. The Air is still a big phone just thinner and lighter which it seems most consumers don't care much about. Like it's not going to fit that much more easily in your pocket or hand vs the non max models. A mini on the other hand would, especially if you like using a device one handed and you have small hands. Bad battery life out of the gate with the 12 mini and not having a pro model also hurt the mini big time. If there was a current mini pro with good battery life I would be extremely tempted.
Would be interesting to know which type sold the fewest: Mini, Plus or Air. I suspect the order in terms of profit per phone goes Mini<Plus<Air, but I haven't considered the R&D investments in that assumption
These are the trade-in values. The companies that buy these then sell them on a a profit (probably in the $800-900 region, depending on condition). People would likely make more money cashing out their phones by selling them privately, but a lot of people don't want the hassle of the risk of being scammed so they would rather take a bigger financial hit by selling to a reputable trade-in centre. Personally I will be buying iPhones from trade-in centres going forward - got my iPhone 15 in January (3.5 months after launch, <2 months from activation) in pristine condition for £599 (25% discount on the UK rrp); <50 cycles on the battery/100% battery health with ~8 months of the Apple warranty left and a full 12 month warranty from the trade in centre that even covered me if the original owner comitted insuance fraud by declaring the phone lost/stolen and getting it blocked.
I hate that we live in a world where function has trumped form completely and people can't conceive of design having any value. Remember the first gen macbook Air? It was expensive as a Macbook Pro, but it absolutely sucked in comparison. And the "more functional" base macbook was faster for much cheaper. But it was super thin, super light and cool looking.
The iPhone Air is the best designed phone apple has made since the X, hands down. And it will be the future of the platform for the base models. The early adopters are just subsidizing the R&D.
Seems like it. Like I said could be wrong but I don't see anyone selling used iphone 17's discounted that deeply already
To each their own of course. I prefer the square edges of the current and recent designs. Maybe because my first iPhone was the 4s. I’ve had a new phone every year since then and there have been none that I disliked or had any problems with but I like the squares better.
That doesn't sound like an informed opinion (see what I did there?). An earpiece speaker will never be a decent main speaker and the base 17 not only sounds better, but can hit higher volumes. It also performs better because it throttles less. It's a much less compromised phone for less money.
I've stopped caring about the generations of iPhone at all - Apple should just stop giving them names at all.
I switched to buying used. The hardware is close enough to identical - I can't tell the difference between today's iPhones and the ones from 5 years ago.
I buy iPhones based on a simple formula - price/<time I expect it to be supported for>. I take a look at the RAM and CPU in the phone and compare it against what they're selling today. If the RAM and CPU is still available on new phones, they'll be supporting whatever I'm looking at for at least 5 more years.
So... really, the low end phones didn't lead to me buying newer low-end phones. It lead to me deciding that the old used phones are a great value at 50+% off.
This isn’t surprising at all, especially in places like the United States where bigger tends to sell better. And it’s not limited to iPhones either. You see it on the roads where people purchase huge vehicles when they most likely do not need them. Heck, I remember when the 3DS was the active handheld at the time, Nintendo America almost didn’t even release regular sized n3DS because consumers wanted “big” (3DS XL) devices. I’m sure the 12.9” iPad sells better than the 11” and 16” MacBook Pro sells better than the 14”. People want big things and the data shows.
I’m happy Apple released the iPhone Air regardless of what’s happening right now. I haven’t seen a difference at all going from my 16 Pro Max to the Air which probably means my use case matches exactly what the Air offers.
I’m happy Apple released the iPhone Air regardless of what’s happening right now. I haven’t seen a difference at all going from my 16 Pro Max to the Air which probably means my use case matches exactly what the Air offers.
"It seems most consumers don't care much about"
Same could be said for the mini's form factor.... People don't want to consume all of their content on such a tiny screen.....Also you cannot have a pro model mini with good battery life, it's impossible to fit a battery big enough to handle pro features.... That's the thing mini fans don't seem to get... You're going to be severely compromised one way or another if you want that small form factor..... And that's why it will never sell enough for Apple to bother
I absolutely love my Air. I have always been a Pro guy and get the latest phone every year. I decided to try something DIFFERENT this year after realizing a) I rarely take pictures b) rarely use my speakerphone (big AirPod Pro user) and c) my aging eyes wanted a larger screen than the Pro but smaller than the Pro Max. Honestly, the biggest problem I have with my Air is the frequent "Oh sh*t" moments when I think I have left my phone behind and then I reach down to my short pocket and realize the phone is present and safe! It is so light it is difficult to tell if it is in your pocket sometimes. And this is with a simple case and Magbak wallet attached (which has been a game changer for me - love the combo!!!)
actually the 14" is the better seller historically. not a ton of data available, but I did find one article.
MacBook Pro and MacBook Air overwhelmingly drive Apple Mac sales
New research claims to have details on exactly how dominant MacBook Pro and MacBook Air sales are, versus desktop contemporaries.
Not 44% off. But still a big drop, IMO.
Mint Unlocked iPhone Air Space Black 1TB w/ Apple Bumper and Apple External Battery $1000
Retails for $1399, so that's a savings of 28.52%
Add in the Apple Bumper ($39) and Apple External Battery ($99) and that's 35%.
If you have sales tax in your state, you're pretty much at 44% off vs Apple's retail price.
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Maybe they're still in the denial stage. In a couple months they'll move to the anger stage, then the bargaining, followed by the depression stage. So it'll take some time before they get to acceptance stage.
Most carrier deals will give you up to $1000 for your recent iPhone Trade-in, so every 36 months I get a new iPhone Pro Max for just a few hundred out of pocket. Since I don't switch carriers every other day, it seems to make the most sense to me.
Apple will give $0 trade-in value for the Air like the AVP! Another failed product under the Cook regime.
Respectfully, that’s not what I got out of the post from @Mactech20
Companies have to build products that appeal to the most people possible.
Doing so is in complete consideration for the users.