There was another MacRumors article yesterday about the same topic - Apple creating a new top-of-the-line iPhone. But that article did a poor job imagining what would make such a phone more desirable than the current Pro/Max. It could only come up with a couple things, a bigger screen and a titanium body. Would you buy an "Ultra" if its only distinguishing feature is a 0.2" bigger screen and a different material? I sure as heck wouldn't. Other features bandied about were the same ones that have previously been attributed to future Pro models - e.g. a periscopic camera setup which would allow for higher optical zoom. That would be an attractive feature, but if it only goes on this new "Ultra", what improvements would the Pro models get to justify their existence over the 14 Pro/Max?
I respect Gurman, but I really don't see room for yet another iPhone model in the lineup - there's just not enough to differentiate them all....unless Apple plans on getting rid of the 'plain' model. The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus apparently didn't sell well at all. Perhaps, Apple will decide to discontinue that model and the Pro models will take their place. But then Apple wouldn't offer anything in the $800-$1000 range! Somehow I doubt they'll do that - Apple is not such a premium brand that they can leave that segment completely, just to scrape together a few more dollars on the high end, I'd think.
But maybe I'm overthinking - probably enough of Apple's customers always buy the 'best' - no matter what it is or how different it is from its other models. I'm sometimes one of them.
