Question is wether 16GB is really cheaper than 32GB in production ?
And wether a 32GB base would cut into sales for 64GB (128GB) phones.
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New 4" iPhone With 12MP Camera Said to Cost $400-$500, iPhone 5s to Receive 50% Price Cut
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Question is wether 16GB is really cheaper than 32GB in production ?
And wether a 32GB base would cut into sales for 64GB (128GB) phones.
Apple made very dark black iPhones (and laptops) when they were plastic. They ran into trouble with aluminium being deep black - blemishes showing on the finish as anodizing did not take well.
Better to have a grey device that stays true to colour than a whole bunch of disappointed venting fans.
Does any manufacturer make deep black aluminium devices that can stand the daily use/abuse phones get?
You are forgetting that the largest group of users out there don't care about whether their phone has VoLTE, WiFi calling, 4K cameras, etc. They care that their phone works, that it's easy to use and that they'll have good support when they need it. Apple wins that game, hands down. Bitter Android geeks will never get that.
Nobody is denying that. Just saying that they want to get people to buy higher end memory because it means more profit maximization. It doesn't mean that nobody buys a 16gb. Those who do will not be able to fully enjoy 4K videos or Live Photos without having to sacrifice memory flexibility. They have to mix and match what they want to keep in their storage and how to use iCloud, Dropbox, etc to store their photos or other files.
Of course Apple makes money on upgrades. That's the way manufacturing works, such as on cars, for example. Are you angry with Honda because their base car's engine is four cylinders, or that the seats are cloth? Want 6 cylinders or leather, simply pay for it.
If a lot of people don't need 32gb, and 16 gb works fine, why penalize them with a unit that costs more?
If you want a feature simply pay for it.
Breaking news: Apple, Honda, and most manufacturers live off of and maximize profits. Complaining about the economics of manufacturing comes off petulant.
Pro tip: If you want people to really take you seriously when you say "maximize profits," squint your eyes, sneer a little, and slowly move your head back and forth while saying that. Everyone will then know you're someone to be reckoned with.
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There are no "molds". Each phone is shaped out of a block of aluminum. So there are no savings at all, just telling the machines which different bits to remove from one design to the next. And it's all the same to the machine, chamfered edges being no more difficult to produce than curved ones. More importantly, the older "innards" can often cost as much or more than the new ones since they are in less demand.
Except Apple isn't likely interested in selling a new phone without Pay which gurantees a potential customer will not use it. Pay is at a turning point this year and many analyists are expecting a big year for it. That won't happen if half of the activated iPhones can't use it.
Apple could theoretically announce a 32GB base model "SE", and discontinue 16GB 6S models, leaving only 6 models with 16GB since they will be the new $450 phone in 6 months.
Depends on the amount of ram they put in it. If they want what's best for the customer experience, they would put in 2 gigs. If they want to ensure sales of the regular phones do not drop, they will put in 1 gig of ram - customer experience be damned.
I have read many posts here and decided to post my own. Many people have said that Apple will not sell a iPhone 5s at $250 because they are about premium not cheap. Well firstly that is not entirely true because they did sell iPod Touches as premium and also at same time sold iPod shuffle as cheap entry iPod. Why not do the same for the iPhone? Tim Cook has admitted that iPhone sales are slowing down and will actually be in negative numbers going forward. If they did sell the iPhone 5s at $250 then it would help stimulate sales of the iPhone 5s which gets people into the Apple Universe. They then are more likely to upgrade at some point in the future. I own a iPhone 6s 128gb and would probably buy an iPhone 5s if it were at $250 just for the sake of it! There has been lots of criticisms of the fact that lots of people in markets such as China and India can not afford the huge prices of iPhones. This would help them get an iPhone with features good enough at a cheap price point. I do acknowledge that Apple may not do this but there is a good chance they will. Put it this way, if they do sell a 4" iPhone 5 SE and would probably be at about $400 to $500 then they would have to discount the iPhone 5S and by at least $100 or there would be too close a gap between the two phones. That is my observation anyway. As to the posts about Battery life, I do agree that battery life needs to be improved always, though I remember when the iPhone 5S came out and people moaned about the poor battery life. I had an iPhone 5S and I managed to get good Battery life. Some people who moan about how poor the Battery life is on their iPhone usually are glued to them and hardly put them down. Though like I say I agree that rather than keeping making the iPhones thinner and thinner Ive and co should make the Battery life better.
Name me the last product from Apple that has not been priced way above others in The same category?
Apple view themselves as a premium brand.
Hey I can find pants that are the same quality as ones from Brooks Brothers.... Guess which one will cost more?
Wonder if it'll come with 16GB storage? Honestly, I believe Apple is the only company to still offer such low storage. What would be awesome if they took the Samsung approach and offered an SD card slot within the SIM tray so the consumer could expand their storage if desired. Not everyone wants everything in the "cloud".
The problem is that there is a large group of Apple enthusiasts who like 90% of what apple does, but fight for Apple to improve that 10%.
Yet we are lumped in with the haters.
The inability to think critically is NOT something to be proud of/laud. So I laugh at the pro-Apple extremists.
That's true. If that's the case, simply purchase a unit with more memory. Easy.
Many people do not make videos, do not have a lot of apps, and do not have a lot of music. The 16gb base unit is the way to go.
I don't believe Apple will be selling the 5S anywhere, except possibly some emerging markets after the "SE" comes out. Without Pay, it only holds back Apple's expansion plans this year.
I do believe Apple might offered a budget phone for less than $450, but NOT this so-called SE with these specs. A Phone featuring the same specs of a 6S but being sold for less? Makes no sense. A 4" screen is not enough to justify a $150-250 price drop over the current flagship specs.
If Apple produces this "SE" as described in this article, it's selling for at least $600, with a price drop to $500 in Septemeber, when the 6S drops to $550.
I still expect to see two different 4" phones (based on the conflicting spec rumors), with a true entry level phone with an A8/1GB ram/16GB/Pay, replacing the 5s at the same $450 price point (similar to the recent iPod Touch update), dropping to $400 when the 7 comes out and the 6 drops to $450.
That ensures those who can afford to pay more for a 4" phone will have an option, and ensures Pay is available in all of their new phones. It also gives them a more capable phone to shift to their emerging markets with the 6 the following year.
Also keep in mind, for Apple to continue offering the 5s alongside a new 4" SE, means they have to dedicate a new manufacturing facility with aluminum machining capabilities for it to do so. If the "SE" replaces the 5s, then there's no need for a new facility. Apple has continued to sell the 4S & 5c until this month in India, but neither required aluminum machining for their cases, which was likely the reason the 5c was offered in the first place -- to allow Apple to build the infrastructure to produce 3 different aluminum phones at the same time. Now Apple is producing 5 aluminum models, and next year likely 7, which makes sense on the premium end of the product offerings, not so much to expand the low end -- adding a potential 8th aluminum phone selling for less than the rest? Hard to imagine.
A 12MP camera, too! I'm getting this the first day! Here, Apple, take my money!
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued a research note to investors, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors, in which he claims Apple's next-generation 4-inch iPhone will feature a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera, as opposed to an 8-megapixel sensor as previously rumored.
Kuo also reiterated that the new 4-inch iPhone will have other similar hardware specs as the iPhone 6s, including an A9 chip and NFC for Apple Pay. The device's form factor is expected to be similar to the iPhone 5s, although the display is said to have slightly curved 2.5D glass like the iPhone 6 and newer.
Apple's new 4-inch iPhone could also feature 16GB and 64GB storage capacities, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, Live Photos support, and a slightly larger 1,642 mAh battery compared to the iPhone 5s. 3D Touch will likely remain exclusive to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus as a differentiating feature.
The well-informed analyst continues to believe the smartphone will cost between $400 and $500 in the United States. The lower price point should help Apple target the mid- to low-price segment and drive iPhone sales in emerging markets such as China and India. Comparatively, the larger iPhone 6s starts at $649.
KGI Securities expects total 4-inch iPhone shipments to grow 131% year-over-year to 37 million units in 2016, on the strength of the new 4-inch iPhone launch and a 50% price cut on the iPhone 5s. Apple currently sells the iPhone 5s for $450 at full retail price, so the smartphone may soon be discounted to $225.
The research firm has lowered its new 4-inch iPhone shipments forecast to 12 million units from 18-20 million units because it believes customers that favor a small-size iPhone may purchase the cheaper iPhone 5s instead. KGI expects iPhone 5s shipments to "surge" following the half-off discount.
Kuo said Apple's upcoming 4-inch iPhone is "generally dubbed iPhone 5se," but the much-rumored smartphone may actually be called the "iPhone SE." The purported iPhone 5s successor has been given many other names in recent months, including "iPhone 6c," "iPhone 5e," and "iPhone 5s Mark II" internally.
Apple is expected to announce the new 4-inch iPhone, alongside a new 9.7-inch iPad Pro and minor Apple Watch updates, at its rumored March 15 media event. Barring any last minute changes, the smartphone could reportedly go on sale as early as March 18. Apple is unlikely to offer pre-orders for the device.
The research note also clarified that Apple will offer both single and dual camera versions of the iPhone 7 Plus.
Article Link: New 4" iPhone With 12MP Camera Said to Cost $400-$500, iPhone 5s to Receive 50% Price Cut
Yeah, I think I'll stick with my new Microsoft Lumia 640 5" smart phone I paid only $48 for plus $99 for a 200GB SD expansion card (i.e. $147 for a 208GB smart phone with a 1MP front camera, 8MP back camera and enough space to store a dozen movies, entire seasons of tv shows, thousands of songs and photos and still have 96GB of space free for 1080p video and photo capture). It works with Tracfone over AT&T lines, so I can pay $17 a month a for a full smart phone and use the savings to buy a new Macbook Pro every other year instead. Apps? I had no trouble finding the stuff I used to actually use on Apple (e.g. Bejeweled, Angry Birds, Dictionary/Thesaurus/Encyclopedia, Kodi Remote, VLC, GPS mapping/turn-by-turn, etc. and the battery is fully easily removable and has 2500mah, almost twice the current iPhones (I only have to recharge every 2-4 days on average). I honestly don't know why Windows Phones aren't more popular. They are the OS X mobile security equivalent with such a small market share, no one bothers with malware (whereas iOS is attracting a lot of attention these days in that area). Apps are shut down with a down swipe instead of an up-swipe. Big deal. Live tiles keep me updated on news and other info 12+ apps at a time. It syncs perfectly to my Subaru Bluetooth stereo, uses WiFi at home automatically and easily lets me turn on Cellular Data at a swipe plus button quick link. Honestly, I can't imagine why anyone would want to pay 8-12x as much for an iPhone that will be outdated and possibly unsupported (or slow as hell) in a few short years at most. I don't even have to worry about dropping this phone. It's easily replaced for another $48 (and yet it has Gorilla Glass 3 so it's unlikely to break even if I do drop it). There's also a dual-sim version for a bit more ($80 online already unlocked) that can be used in multiple countries without swapping sims. Yeah, it's not A9 fast, but so what? It's $48 and has a quad-core snap-dragon. It's unreal what you get for almost no money outright.
For once, I have to say Microsoft is getting shafted by ignorant consumers that think phones are fashion instead of utility. This phone blows away the iPhone in everything except total apps available (most of which are junk anyway) and other than the lack of a good OS X syncing App (I just backup to the cloud and FTP or use an SD card reader to transfer files), I see no downside. Go ahead and pay $400-750 for an unexpandable iPhone with a crap battery. I just don't see the point (and I don't like Windows Desktop much, but this is a phone). Of course, the newer high-end Windows phone can also be used as a desktop computer. HP just released a high-end monster phone that can even run Windows 32 apps through HP space ahead of Microsoft's own port.
For once, I have to say Microsoft is getting shafted by ignorant consumers that think phones are fashion instead of utility. This phone blows away the iPhone in everything except total apps available (most of which are junk anyway) and other than the lack of a good OS X syncing App (I just backup to the cloud and FTP or use an SD card reader to transfer files), I see no downside. Go ahead and pay $400-750 for an unexpandable iPhone with a crap battery. I just don't see the point (and I don't like Windows Desktop much, but this is a phone). Of course, the newer high-end Windows phone can also be used as a desktop computer. HP just released a high-end monster phone that can even run Windows 32 apps through HP space ahead of Microsoft's own port.
Pay, A9, and 12MP...really solid all around. I'm a fan of the smaller format.
Same. You give me the option of a smaller phone at a $395.00 price point and I'll buy one on day one. But this is Apple, so I don't think you see anything less than $450.00. I DO NOT like how phones now cost as much as personal computers. But sub $400.00, it can be another "gadget" device that you can feel easy about buying.
Or how about Apple rewarding loyal customers with a gift of 32 GB, and eat the difference with good will gravy? Yes, I know that's crazy talk, but it's something a company would do for it's "valuable" customers.
