[gowld]

In China, or elsewhere? What in the US is as good as iPhone (including the screen size and storage size at that price point) for under $800?

A lot of phone have roughly comparable specs, but the camera and overall software behavior is not comparable on lower-tier phones.

[baroffoos]

I don't question that the super expensive phones are better than the cheap ones but they are better in ways that are so insignificant to the average person. I got a nexus 5x a few years ago for about $250 and it does everything modern phones do. Yes I have slightly less pixels in my selfie and my screen is still rectangle shaped but is that really worth the extra $800? I suspect its simply a fashion/trend thing pushed mostly by successful marketing telling people that what was amazing 2 years ago is now useless junk and you need to buy a new phone.

[threeseed]

Give me a break.

This idea that anyone who isn't buying some cheap Android phone is doing it for fashion/trend reasons is ridiculous, insulting and condescending.

The fact is that I care about my privacy and security and only Apple seems to take it seriously. They also support their devices for years so I look at it like its an investment. That is easily worth the extra $10 or $20 a month I pay for my mobile phone plan.

[ndnxhs]

If you cared about privacy and security why would you buy the latest iPhone when you could get one from 2 years ago for a much reduced cost.

[Apocryphon]

This isn't an iOS vs. Android thing. Plenty of people would be happy with an SE 2, or even a 8S (a proper iPhone 9) that retains the home button and/or brings back the earphone jack. This drive for more pixels, more cameras, less buttons, and thinner size- it's hitting diminishing returns unrelated to privacy or security.

[scarface74]

And you can still buy an iPhone 7 for $449 and the iPhone 8/8 plus is still for sell...

[Apocryphon]

And in two years?

[scarface74]

Well,

Seeing that the iPhone 5s was introduced 5 years ago and is still getting updates, the 7 should still be getting updates until 2022.

[xenadu02]

Do you feel the same way about a current-gen mid-tier GPU vs a 4 year old GPU? Why or why not?

What about cars? Are you proclaiming that everyone should drive a Corolla? Or that everyone should drive whatever it is that you personally drive?

Who are you to decide what is significant to the "average" person, if there is such a thing?

[izacus]

Well most people do drive Corollas and use mid-tier GPUs and buy cheap clothes and all those similar things.

And we're seeing this on the mobile market as well, especially in lower income places like China and India - the 300$ phones these days can do pretty much everything what an iPhone does. With a bit less pixels, slightly worse camera and less words like "Magical!" in the marketing pitch.

So it's getting really hard for people to throw away several months of their savings to get a marginally better product with an Apple logo on it. And you can see this in sales - people go for Huaweis and Xiaomis in Chinese market in droves. Even in Europe, Huawei is gaining a massive piece of market due to their cheap and good offerings.

[klodolph]

Nexus 5X is a bad example. I got one two years ago and it was a piece of shit out of the box. No longer supported so I had to trade it in (work phone).

[Markoff]

Huawei p20 pro cost less and has better camera