John Gruber’s latest podcast had on Rene Ritchie and they were discussing the new iPhones. Gruber thinks Apple has to test the limits of the upper price range with the thinking that someone else will so let Apple get there first. Which got me thinking will the new OLED phone follow the Apple Watch or the iPad? Will the phone mostly have feature parity with the 7S (assuming that’s what Apple calls it) and just charge more for materials used and aesthetic looks or will it follow the iPad and have hardware/features that the 7S & 7S Plus don’t? Assuming the rumors of $1000+ starting price iPhone are true there’s no way Apple would expect it to be the flagship, best selling model. But with most Android OEM’s mainstream flagship models going near bezel-less I can’t see how the 7S models ship with 7 like bezels.
So what then sets apart the more expensive iPhone? Will Apple justify the higher price based on materials used to make it ala stainless steel and ceramic Apple Watch? Or will it be more like a Mac with better hardware specifically targeted to “professionals”? Outside of the camera or sensors to enhance AR I can’t see what hardware they could add to make it more “professional”. My guess is if Apple is trying to test the high end it’s going to be more about looks than features. Unless there is some hardware component (outside of the display) that is very expensive or difficult to manufacture in large quantities I suspect it will follow the Apple Watch ceramic model of being more expensive because of materials used not hardware inside. I think there’s plenty of evidence to show people will pay more for something they think looks nicer even if functionality isn’t much different. Let’s not forget Apple charged more for the black plastic MacBook than the white. I doubt it’s because the black one was more difficult to make.
So what then sets apart the more expensive iPhone? Will Apple justify the higher price based on materials used to make it ala stainless steel and ceramic Apple Watch? Or will it be more like a Mac with better hardware specifically targeted to “professionals”? Outside of the camera or sensors to enhance AR I can’t see what hardware they could add to make it more “professional”. My guess is if Apple is trying to test the high end it’s going to be more about looks than features. Unless there is some hardware component (outside of the display) that is very expensive or difficult to manufacture in large quantities I suspect it will follow the Apple Watch ceramic model of being more expensive because of materials used not hardware inside. I think there’s plenty of evidence to show people will pay more for something they think looks nicer even if functionality isn’t much different. Let’s not forget Apple charged more for the black plastic MacBook than the white. I doubt it’s because the black one was more difficult to make.
