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Comment by codingbot3000 | Hacker News Reader

Will this cause people to switch to cheaper Chinese brands? Or is the Apple brand so deeply entrenched in status-conscious US American minds that they will spend that much money for a phone? ;-)

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There's a third possibility: people hold on to their phones longer than they did in the past. We're already seeing it, even before tariffs.

And buy cheaper models in the range.

I wonder what lowering consumer confidence does to the economy? Ah well, surely it can't be that bad.

You already know the answer. It's not just the US — a midrange iPhone costs three median monthly incomes in my country, and they're massively popular: people buy them on credit and then pay out in installments for 1-3 years. It really is a cult.

Americans can be excused as it's a relatively cheap toy for them. Our people I don't understand.

I don't have statistics but judging by advertising I'm exposed to, I'd wager a substantial portion of Americans buy their phones on credit too.

Try using an Android phone and you’ll understand.

Just because you don’t genuine value in an iPhone over a “cheaper Chinese” (presumably Android) phone, it doesn’t mean that those that do are “status-conscious” or whatever other thinly veiled negative value judgement / insult you’re going to throw out next.

Comments like this are akin to putting a big sign around your neck that says “snarky nerd that can’t see past their own nose”.

I have been using both platforms recently, but I personally consider current iPhones a bit less useful and a bit more buggy than comparable Android phones. So my guess was that many people don't buy it for the additional value but for status / cult / whatever. But I am sure there are people who get additional value out of it, e.g. because they are heavy iCloud users. Did not mean it as a general insult, sorry.

There is no alternative for Apple if you prefer iOS.

Or if you want to avoid an advertising funded and privacy invading platform.

The alternative is buying a cheap refurb.

Most definitely the latter. We are talking about an entire people conditioned to live their entire life in some type of indebtedness.

The price of an iphone has remained constant over the past ~20 years. It's arguably already fairly cheap for a device that is so important for everything we do (especially considering that there is marginal benefit to upgrading every year these days and an iphone from 5 years ago still functions fine)

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