I've been on the AR/VR hype train for a long time and have had many different headsets over the years. Apple Vision Pro seems like it puts all of them to shame. And if Apple can execute on this, no doubt, it'll become a household staple. And this is Gen 1. Price will come down. Apple has to get the experience right though. And so far it looks promising.
The original iPhone models were $499–599 only WITH a 2-year AT&T contract, so that price was heavily subsidized.
The current iPhone 14 range is $799–1099+ for the base configs with no contract, but these are unsubsidized prices.
(The base model iPhone SE is only $429 today.)
Apples to oranges comparison.
Carrier and retail subsidies still exist. It's just that they're no longer the only way to buy an iPhone.
Untrue. Sure, you bought a phone that was locked to AT&T, but you didn't need a contract, and jailbreaking was a thing quickly....
Source: ya, I bought the first one before moving to China, paid $499 for it, and unlocked it before I left the shopping mall (University Village in Seattle) I was at.
I bought the first iPhone as well.
Not sure why you mention carrier unlocking for international travel or jailbreaking — two things that are completely orthogonal to the subsidized contract terms.
I would encourage you to check your memory. Maybe you paid a higher price to not have a subsidized contract, or maybe you broke your contract, etc etc; in any case, the contract being 2 years is very well documented:
> The iPhone was released in the United States on June 29, 2007 at the price of $499 for the 4 GB model and $599 for the 8 GB model, both requiring a 2-year contract.[17]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_(1st_generation)
https://www.macworld.com/article/183052/liveupdate-15.html
> The original iPhone reached the market on June 29, 2007. In the U.S. it was priced at $499 and $599, for 4GB and 8GB models, respectively, along with a two-year contract with AT&T.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/06/29/the-story-of-the-...
> iPhone requires a new two-year AT&T service plan.
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2007/06/26Apple-and-AT-T-Anno...
No no, really, lots of people bought them without contracts, even from AT&T stores, at the subsidized price. I think it was the way Apple and AT&T were selling the iPhone: you paid the money, the phone was locked to AT&T's network, so you could only get a contract afterwards without jailbreaking. They "required a contract" but it wasn't done at the same time you bought the phone, so you could always skip it!
This was in the early days of the iPhone, just a few months after it was released (I bought mine in October 2007). They closed the loophole a few months later. My memory is pretty accurate on this one, since I actually bought the phone at University Village (for $499?) and was using it in China a week after I bought it.
Some did criticize the launch price, $499(8GB)/$599(8GB), even though it was right in line with the other smartphones of the day (e.g., Treo). But Apple discontinued the 4GB, and lowered the 8GB price by $200 to $399 just two months after launch. At that point it was not mocked, and that price really helped drive it into the mainstream. I'd say Vision needs that level of price slash to even be niche successful.
https://venturebeat.com/mobile/iphone-prices-from-the-origin...
Maybe I’m wrong, we’ll see.