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Comment by mikestew | Hacker News Reader

In many venues, I'd be labelled an Apple fanboi. And I probably am. I've got all their shit; services, too. The day their credit card comes out is the day I sign up for it. Hey, it's one-stop shopping, I'm comfy in the ecosystem, I feel like a superior person by using their products, and the stuff mostly works.

But I would absolutely love a $400-500 iPhone and I'm fine if it's missing a lot of features. My phone just isn't my primary point of mobile computing anymore (if anything, Apple Watch fills that role for me now[0]), so I neither need nor want a $1000 phone (even though, being a fanboi, I have one). And the point of putting my CV in the first paragraph is to point out that, hey, even if you don't make money selling me a phone, Apple, you'll still make an arse-load of money off me. And maybe you'll get new customers/revenue to boot.

[0]Which, I'll point out, is also a ridiculously-priced device at $900 for the one I bought.

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> But I would absolutely love a $400-500 iPhone and I'm fine if it's missing a lot of features.

Apple still sells iPhone 7.

Good point, I somehow skipped right over that one. Granted, I was thinking more along the lines of the SEs, which were a CPU generation behind, and would be supported for a while. The 7 is only a couple of generations from obsolescence.

OTOOH, having given a bit of thought, is it just more economical to eat the expensive of the flagship up front and then hang on to it for four or five years (which is what we currently do).

I think if you buy the trailing edge of the latest generation, and re-sell it once it’d trailing edge of the next generation, you’ll have s cost-effective cycle of good devices.

Or trailing edges of the 2nd and 3rd generation respectively.

Just make sure you don’t hold on beyond obsolescence.

Sometimes old stuff spikes in value a bit as others want to replace/repair instead of upgrade.

So far, the trend seems to be for Apple to support devices for 5 years after release [0]. Most apps will support at least 1 previous version of iOS, so your total lifespan is around 6 years total. Given that, you end up with:

XR: $750 / 6 years = $125/year

8: $599 / 5 years = $120/year

7: $449 / 4 years = $112/year

So assuming you plan to keep the device for its entire lifespan, I'm not sure it actually matters very much what you buy.

[0] http://infographic.statista.com/normal/chartoftheday_5824_io...

This is my point exactly. My moto x4 is no slouch and does almost everything I want. Cost me $150.

Will easily last me 3-4 years.

50/year to own.

iPhone 8 assuming it lasts 4 years without battery/breakage means I could buy new moto x4 every year I own that 8. I get that its supported longer but these devices are heavily used and abused.

Apple is showing a willingness to provide security and bug fix upgrades far longer than they offer OS upgrades.

>I feel like a superior person by using their products

That's quite a shallow self-image

> I feel like a superior person by using their products

Well, as long as you're happy...

If I were truly happy, I wouldn't be trying to fill that empty hole, where a soul should be, with electronics.

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