The cheapest iPhone (17e) is the same price as the MacBook Neo! (In the UK: both £599.) If Apple can make a laptop for that price, then surely a basic phone should be a fraction of that?
a small fraction? No.
I don't think the iPhone is at the same 'stuck growth' phase as the Mac. If iPhone sales start to drop or compeititon gets alot better at a lower price ( Incrementally that has been happening, but this RAM/NAND crisis is likely going to put revere that. The really cheap phones may more radically disappear. Motorola just raised prices on their entry level stuff. )
There's clearly a market for a cheaper iPhone.
Yes. But ... First, there are still set of folks to dump their iPhones every year. It is not most users, but it is high enough that the used market for iPhones is substantively big. Apple supports iPhones for 5+ years so 2 year phone is still very viable. Even more so if willing to sit on it past when security updates stop coming. Yes, there are folks who more so want a 'new'/warranty covered less expensive phone , but if enough of these other folks 'exit' the market for used/'hand me down'/etc. phones there are fewer folks for Apple to sell to.
The iPHone SE strategy was technically selling older model phones as 'new'. The iPhone sold as iPhone latest in year 1, as the iPhone latest-1 the next year, as the iPhone lastest -2 the year after that and then periodically would fall into the iPhone SE category. The screen , chassis, etc were older tech but the modem/SoC updated and set to fewer fixed configurations. Apple really didn't know to do a deliberately more affordable phone. They mainly just knew how to sell 'old' ones as 'new.
What has happened is that Apple has just chopped off the 3+ year old stuff. It is latest , latest -1 , then flip to 'e'. I suspec that is partially because competition ( both used market and Android phones is getting better the older the tech gets. ) . that is what is leading to the higher price point. The basic phone design is not quite as old (and the screen sizes have crept larger... but so have all other phones.)
Second, the other minor contributing thing to make the phones more expensive has been "Apple Intelligence'. As long as that is in play (with higher RAM/NAND capacity demands) 'cheaper' likely isn't coming. If path failed completely then that might open the door wider for selling older stuff longer, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that.
Apple is doing their own modem. That probably is more 'control over evolution' than it is 'cheaper' ( Qualcomm was expensive, but so is rolling your own modem independently with pragmatically limited unit sales. ) Wafer costs and package construction costs are not getting any cheaper also. The RAM/NAND being higher priced next year (or two) may be somewhat temporary, but the other components are pretty likely to take the 'now more expensive' mantle over time.
Loads of people who need a phone that can handle 'apps', given that they have become such currency -- I had to download an app just to park my car today -- but who don't need all the bells and whistles.
If hold onto iPhone longer than the cost/yr goes down as buy them less frequently. That is the other factor. There is more than one demographic in iPhone marketplace. Some folks are keeping longer (versus fast churn crowd). Some cellphone vendors are drifting back into the "keep a long term contract at higher prices and we'll give you a 'free' phone." game. Personally, I think that has lots to do with Apple's limited line up problems where new options they try fail. It isn't the phone as much as the fact as the Pro and/or regular latest iPhone are the 'free' give aways and many folks take 'free' (with indirect hidden costs) over alternative option that is a better 'fit'. [ The iPhone mini , Plus , Air ... none of those typically get the 'free phone' treatment in cell service vendor 'deals'. ]
Some of the discount carriers will run specials on the lower end iPhones. ( At the moment, cricket wireless has a 16e for $79 if port your number to their service. ) Again, Apple is relying on the service vendors to make the actual cost of the phone disappear into other monthly payments.
People who don't spend their life glued to it, but still need something that works.
those folks make Apple less money. The folks who might buy a $2000 iPhone Ultra every two years to max out on the notification crack high tend to more 'easy' money for Apple. But the ones in the fast churn crowd are pretty close and disrupt this affordable submarket just enough.
If the overall iPhone market growth started to shrink and Apple was forced to look at pulling in new users then maybe that would get them to focus on something designed to be more affordable from scratch. I doubt they work on that until they think it is inevitable. ( for a while they will 'wish' the problem away.)
