I would argue that the masses don't need Rolls-Royces, thus this is resource mis-allocation on a global scale - but certainly Apple have pushed device and UI design forward strongly, so maybe we can live with that.
And on the big scale, we should be happy that finally the x86 monoculture is coming to an end. I can still remember the times when there were several competing cpu architectures which made for a lot of innovation.
These jobs aren't great. 16 hour work days and company provided boarding makes them into borderline slaves.
I'm not saying stopping the demand for electronics is going to fix that, but promoting that is far from a "holy mission".
Unless you care more about plastic gadgets than the people making them for you.
Who's saying they're great? All I'm saying is that they're better than starving on the street, which as you pointed out is what would be happening to these people without the shitty sweatshop jobs. I really struggle to see how offering an alternative to starving on the street is a bad thing. Would you prefer these companies pack up the sweatshops, return production to countries with expensive labor, and force some of their former workers back to starve on the street? Personally I would not. If those people want to work in those conditions I think it's immoral to stop them.
> but promoting that is far from a "holy mission".
I don't think anyone is saying this either. Obviously sweatshop operators are looking out for their own interests, but that's the great thing about trade. When all participants are willing they are necessarily better off due to the trade, otherwise it wouldn't happen.
Those are hardly Rolls Royces prices.
Apple also releases security updates for phones two years older.
Not to mention that the $100 Android is slow and clunky with worse battery life and a horrible camera.
But a $100 cell phone is no substitute for a $429 iPhone SE. While there are some mid tier $250-$300 Android phones that are “good enough”. The only phones that currently exist that have the performance of even an iPhone SE are - other iPhones.