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I think $199 is a little low for any "new" iPhone. The lowest I think they would go would be $299 or maybe $249 to replace the iPod touch. Apple has said they don't really sell "low cost" devices.
Good point! I mean look at how much Apple polishing costs us. Low-cost devices? Not a chance

Your comment also references this article.

 
I can see this being true - but only in certain countries. A $249 SE (2020) in India would sell a load but don't get any hopes up that this price would make it to the West.
 
Why sell a $199 iPhone unless the iPod Touch is history?
i’m not sure how many years need to go by, how many website refreshes need to be made to make it any more abundantly clear that the iPod touch is on its deathbed.
The design hasn’t been changed since 2012.
The battery is smaller than the original iPhones.
The processor is underclocked and is even slower than the iPhone 7 from almost 6 years ago.
The entire section has been completely removed in recent times from the main menu on Apple‘s website, you have to scroll all the way to the bottom to find it.
The iPod Touch at this point only exists because it’s not costing Apple anything to keep it around.
It’s the only iOS device left without a biometric.
It’s the only iOS device left with the old 4 inch 640P display.
It’s the only iOS device left that still has a 1.2 megapixel front camera that can’t even do 1080P.
It’s the only iOS device left with the camera from the iPhone 5.
It hasn’t been touched in over 1,000 days, it hasn’t been brought up in a keynote in almost a decade.
It’s a dead product.
Apple can barely even use it to sell their services anymore, because most arcade games completely slaughter the processor and battery, and the screen is too small to enjoy any TV+ content.
Any change made to it would definitely increase the price. Giving it a bigger screen would increase the price. Giving it a bigger battery would increase the price. Giving it a faster processor would most definitely increase the price.
Used iPhones and on sale SE’s have taken over it’s price point.
The Apple Watch is a more convenient music player
The budget iPad is more convenient for businesses who might use these.
They serve almost no purpose in Apple‘s lineup anymore, and I highly doubt they are going to survive 2022.
So to your point, even though I highly doubt Apple will introduce a $199 iPhone, the iPod touch still is history.
 
I can't see iPhone SE selling for $199 - half the current price. As others mentioned $299 would be more expected but that would be a really aggressive move. Could Apple be making that possible by building it in Brazil or India? Could they also eliminate the 128Gb tier and just sell it with 64Gb? Or even reintroduce a 32Gb tier as base model for the eye catching price?

As also mentioned in the thread, could it mean the end of the iPod touch? The extra capacity tiers that the venerable iPod touch offers now seems outmoded in a streaming music and video world and the Touch form factor (with A10 CPU since 2019) notably doesn't support NFC which Apple might be planning to use as a contactless payment device.

So the slightly bigger form factor, which is still hand held and has a plethora of existing case options might get a second life in the ultra budget market and POS market as Apple take on payment companies?
 
The "services" category is where Apple is showing highest percentage gain year-over-year. Having a very low cost option in the lineup would allow further growth of that category, as well as introducing a new segment of users to iOS, who may decide to upgrade to a pricier device in the future. Win-win for Apple IMO.
 
Because they will have strong competition for their bread and butter market in developing countries. I'm nit taking about high end android phones. People buy those because they like them. However the budget android phones are bought for their price alone.
The kind of specs you can get for that price on android in developing countries makes the iPhone a non starter. Many of those models don’t make it to the US.
 
I'll say right now that a $200 price point would be excellent for low-income markets, but I'm scared that price point might hurt Apple's image of being a "Premium Only" Phone Maker and become more like Samsung with their cheap A series phones, but makes high-end phones like the S22 Ultra. It might help them in the short term, but in the long term not so much.
 
$200? LOL. Apple has a minimum requirement for margins. There will never be a $200 iPhone. Just like there will never be a MacBook cheaper than $999. Apple also has brand image to maintain.
 
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The "services" category is where Apple is showing highest percentage gain year-over-year. Having a very low cost option in the lineup would allow further growth of that category, as well as introducing a new segment of users to iOS, who may decide to upgrade to a pricier device in the future. Win-win for Apple IMO.
I would also say that if Apple are indeed looking to replace the SE 2020 with an SE 2022 with 5G the more logical thing to do for me would be to re-use the old 8 Plus form factor to enable a bigger battery.

The alternative would be to bring FaceID to that segment by reusing the Xr case.

I'm expecting the iPhone 13 Mini to survive starting at $599 for 128Gb storage so beneath that an Xr with 5G and A15 CPU for around $499 with 128Gb storage seems reasonable.

If Apple think TouchID will still be important they could equally dust off that 8 Plus case and provide 5G with 128Gb for that $499.

It would leave a potential carry over SE 2020 starting at $299 with 64Gb and the A13 which gets pointed at the same market. If Apple were worried about damaging their image they could discontinue it off the main site and let third party retailers sell them.
 
I have…extensive thoughts. Long story short, I believe they’ll keep the 4G SE at $299 (not $199 like Gurman hopes) with the new 5G SE at $399. Then, if the SE Plus ever drops in 2023/2024 it will come in at $399 while the old 5G and 4G SE will lower another $100. View attachment 1966309
$299 is somewhat more credible than $199. Still doubt it, but it's possible.

Btw, I'm sure Apple would increase the iPhone 14 Pro prices this year, and introduce an iphone 14 Max for $899.
 
Isn’t the point of adding 5G to the SE because 3G is being shut down and replaced with 5G and this would give the SE a new leg to stand on moving forward.

Apple doesn’t need a $199 iPhone that only supports 4G (and the outgoing 3G) in the market. It also wouldn’t be wise for people to buy a phone without 5G support at this point.
 
Isn’t the point of adding 5G to the SE because 3G is being shut down and replaced with 5G and this would give the SE a new leg to stand on moving forward.

Apple doesn’t need a $199 iPhone that only supports 4G (and the outgoing 3G) in the market. It also wouldn’t be wise for people to buy a phone without 5G support at this point.
Yes, I agree, although 4G will still be around for long time to come. But I agree that more and more countries are switching off 3G, and 5G deployment is inevitable.

I'm sure Apple's goal is to have all 5G iphones by this year. Then they can brag about it being the fastest rollout or whatever in September, when the iPhone 11 is dropped.
 
It would be really cool.
A $199 iPhone would be truly a fantastic product.
Even a $299 iPhone SE would be absolutely fantastic, and could still easily replace the old aging iPod touch.
But this is Apple.
What’s more likely is that they completely discontinue the 2020 SE, and the new one just replaces it.
Another very likely possibility is that they keep around the current SE at $399, and just price the 5G model at $499. I think that’s also very likely, and it would just replace the 11.
For Apple "swallowing" the SE pill was already enough, considering they positioned themselves as a high-end brand since the mid 2000s.
Having a super cheap iPhone at 200$ would strip the brand of even more prestige.
 
Considering how hard it’s been to buy an iPhone SE these last few months, I’m pretty sure they won’t keep it around.
It's all rumors after all.

I have a feeling Apple is not that generous. If Apple did release a new SE, it will simply be replacing the current one, not keeping it for cheaper.
 
It would be really cool.
A $199 iPhone would be truly a fantastic product.
Even a $299 iPhone SE would be absolutely fantastic, and could still easily replace the old aging iPod touch.
But this is Apple.
What’s more likely is that they completely discontinue the 2020 SE, and the new one just replaces it.
Another very likely possibility is that they keep around the current SE at $399, and just price the 5G model at $499. I think that’s also very likely, and it would just replace the 11.
Yup. $200 would be fantastic for consumers, but not for Apple, especially the brand. I doubt Apple would want to be seen as a cheap $200 phone maker.

It's interesting if Apple actually replace the 11 instead of the SE. But then there will be a conundrum later in September on where the iPhone 12 should be in terms of pricing.
 
Maybe they will keep the iPhone SE 4G while selling the iPhone SE 5G... Maybe not... Maybe they should re-sell the iPhone 5C as iPod touch 8 without the SIM card tray/cellular/mobile data capability...
 
Here's what $179 buys you in India.


  • Snapdragon 680 (6nm)
  • 4GB RAM / 64GB Storage
  • 6.43" AMOLED
  • Quad rear camera (50MP wide camera)
  • 33W in-box charger (USB-C)

in-overview07.png
 
The $199 android phones don't have call screener on there. Isn't that a pixel exclusive feature? Yes at the high end those that chose an android phone prefer it over iOS. However at the budget end they pick whatever they can afford. The price is the determining factor.
I don't think it is sufficient for us to be talking about price points without providing the context for those prices.

Each carrier has their own deals with handset manufacturers and pricing can vary widely. Carrier locked vs unlocked, new subscriber price vs off-the-shelf price, etc. That's even before we talk about the "perceived" price vs. actual price. (some people think the phone is "free" if they don't have to pay anything upfront for the device, even though they'll pay a monthly amount toward the purchase)
 
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