[toyg]

How can you seriously argue that iPhones are "subsidized by AppStore profit", when one division pulls in 40%+ of Apple profits and the other barely 15% (and not even alone - appstore profits get added with iCloud and others under "Services" in Apple reports; realistically, it's probably 10% at best)...?

It's iPhones that subsidize everything else, including the AppStore. For all their talk of "going services", Apple is still first and foremost a hardware company.

[Discombulator]

I’m not doubting the facts you mention and the amount of the hypothetical subsidy might be on average in the low two digit dollar range. The overall point is however that the App Store restriction was known at the time of purchase, so demanding to remove it without compensation is unfair.

(What would you say if your employer or client demands to pay a bit less after signing a contract with you?)

[toyg]

> I’m not doubting the facts you mention

That's because they are facts. I mean, look up Apple reports, they are very readable.

> and the amount of the hypothetical subsidy

There is no such subsidy! Why would you "subsidize" something that makes 3-4 times as much money as you do...? The AppStore didn't even exist and the iPhone was already making money!

> The overall point is however that the App Store restriction was known at the time of purchase

Key point being was. One can just demand that new phones be sold without this restriction, if you really want to stick to the old rules.

> What would you say if your employer or client demands to pay a bit less

The government can mandate that your employer should pay you less from today, or even that it should pay you more for stuff done in the past (although retroactivity in law is pretty bad, it is still occasionally applied). Laws change every day, all over the world. Stuff that was legal yesterday might not be tomorrow, that's just a fact of life. And let's not even get into clients: cutting prices, credit notes, and discounts, are just the price of doing business and happen every minute of every day.