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submitted 4 days ago by Pro@programming.dev to c/memes@lemmy.world

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[-] GamingChairModel@lemmy.world 15 points 4 days ago

Apple's discounting strategy is generally to sell last year's model, sometimes the model before that, with roughly $200 discounts for each year since its release. They sometimes release a lower spec model (the 16e is the current example, prior SE models or even the mini models from previous generations were part of this strategy as well) and that sometimes means the 2-year-old model isn't kept available as long.

That's where their 5-7 year support window really shines, in that they can just sell older models as discounted models, knowing that the new owner will still get 3-5 years of support.

The other thing is that the used market for iPhones is pretty robust. I can go buy used phones that are 3 or 4 years old and still get a good 1-4 years of additional support. At least in the U.S., if you told me my budget for a phone was gonna be $300 for the next 2 years, I think I'd probably buy a used iPhone.

As it currently stands, I'm still on Pixels on a 2 year cycle, but I also know that my "sell used to offset the price of my new phone" strategy also would be much cheaper if I did it with iPhones instead of Pixels.

[-] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago

That's where their 5-7 year support window

This is one of the worse scams that Apple perpetrate with iOS admins iPadOS - yes, the devices get updates for as many years as specified. However, basically all apps available for iOS and iPadOS only support the two latest versions of the OS, meaning that once your device is out of support, it functionally becomes a brick after one year, as no apps will support it anymore.

Android has a worse record of keeping the OS up to date on devices, but app developers on Android routinely support 10 or more versions back of the OS, making this problem less severe.

[-] accideath@feddit.org 2 points 4 days ago

I’m well aware of apple’s strategy and I myself am typing this on an iPhone 13 mini I bought refurbished.

However, for public perception of a brand as being expensive, used/refurbished models don’t really count. The cheapest phone Apple currently sells new (16e) is about 600€; 700€ directly from Apple. That’s not a cheap phone.
Samsung, as one of the most expensive android brands, still sells a variety of phones well below that, as low as 80€ for a brand new phone.

That obviously skews the perception towards Samsung being more affordable than Apple. Which they are. I cannot possibly get a new iPhone at 80€ or even a decent refurbished one.

But of course that still doesn’t mean iPhones are overpriced. You usually get what you pay for and similar devices by other manufacturers are usually just as expensive.