iPhone 16e iPhone launched in 2007 for $499. How is $599 a budget phone?

[webkit]

Try $999aud

The pre-GST price for the 16e in Australia is actually lower than the pre-sales tax price for the 16e in the U.S.

The pre-GST price is A$908 which at the current exchange rate is around $575 USD. That is less than the $599 USD pre-sales tax price for same phone in the U.S.

 

[rizzo41999]

"Things sure were cheaper back in the old days". Yes, obviously. Inflation happens. 2007 was ages ago, grandpa.

Be nice, man.

 

[klasma]

And the slim iPhone should be called iPhone 17 Slim
Apple, you have disappointed me

By that logic, the iPhone Pro Max should be called the iPhone Brick.

 

[mansplains]

does Apple call it a "budget" model?
Name any Apple device that is considered a "budget device"

I don’t remember Apple advertising any product as budget. This is a description attached by others. Consumers who are truly seeking budget devices will never consider new iPhones.

I said the same thing earlier, people seem to confuse entry level with budget. At the end of the day, you can purchase older iPhones. Those who are budget-conscious generally don't care about having the latest and greatest, at least in my experience. "It's not budget!" Who said it was?

 

[jz0309]

I said the same thing earlier, people seem to confuse entry level with budget. At the end of the day, you can purchase older iPhones. Those who are budget-conscious generally don't care about having the latest and greatest, at least in my experience. "It's not budget!" Who said it was?

Apple is a Premium brand (haven't seen that term being used here in a while).
There is no Premium brand in this world that sells "budget" stuff of any kind.

 

[JCCL]

iPhone launched in June 2007 starting at $499 but that $499 price required a 2 year AT&T contract. The cheapest AT&T iPhone plan at the time was $59.99/month (1 line) and that wasn’t even unlimited talk/text.

Liked I said earlier, you could walk out the Apple Store without any plan. I did this.

 

[sleeptodream]

Apple is a Premium brand (haven't seen that term being used here in a while).
There is no Premium brand in this world that sells "budget" stuff of any kind.

Right? There’s no “budget” Porsches in their lineup, just “less expensive” ones. If you can’t afford the lowest rung on the ladder you go to the used market. That is how they maintain their reputation (and profit margins )

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Apple doesn't use the phrase "budget phone" anywhere, and never claimed it was.

It's not a budget phone. It's a lower-cost model.

 

[appleandpear]

iPhone 16e doesn't want to be budget. Apple doesn't want to be budget. NOBODY want to be budget. 😊✌️

 

[Yr Blues]

NOBODY want to be budget.

Speak for yourself, bub. 🤠

 

[jackson555]

From the first Iphone SE was released in 2016 for $349. Since then, year over year cost growth of the budget iPhone through se 2nd generation/$399/2020 and through 3rd Generation/$429/2022 was exactly 3.5% growth year over year. For this phone it should have landed at $476.

Instead from the 3rd generation phone (2022) to todays $599 phone is 12% year over year cost growth. Count me out. Apple Intelligence is not worth an additional $123 to anyone.

 

[Analog Kid]

But anything is going up in prices, specially housing, food, electricity, health care and other elementary things. And smartphones aren't anything special anymore, they all do the same, there is nobody standing out anymore. So believing you can add the inflation to your product is risky.

They didn't "add the inflation" to their product. The 16e is priced significantly below what the original iPhone would have cost in current dollars. Inflation is the change in price for an item or its equivalent. The original iPhone is far inferior to the 16e in every way. An equivalent product likely wasn't even possible in 2007 at any price.

Also, wasn't the 499 2007-dollars price subsidized? So even the nominal price was probably twice that.

The price of smartphones has deflated. Severely.

 

[Paddle1]

I think the idea might be that it's inflated to $599 until the 17 drops later down in the year and then it'll come down to a more reasonable $499. Since the 16 should get a $100 drop and it's "part of the 16 family", this would make sense.

 

[Analog Kid]

Try $999aud

Try 99,800 yen.

I mean, we could multiply that $599 by any conversion we want to make it seem even bigger. The fact that Australia also named their currency after the Spanish dollar doesn't make it any better of a comparison...

 

[macfacts]

View attachment 2483929

Why are big screen TVs so cheap then?

 

[macfacts]

You could buy it without the contract at 499. I bought one which I jailbroke and unlocked to use in Mexico.

Good luck with that with no sim card slot

 

[RaphaZ]

I've just saw the prices in Apple Portugal. 739 € for this phone. Completely out of it. I've bought mine SE for 350€ or 300€ back in 2016.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Why are big screen TVs so cheap then?

Most big screen TVs that are on the affordable side are sold at a loss, which is made up for by deals with streaming services and Smart TV software and advertisements.
That’s why when you purchase one of those TVs, the remote it comes with has a Netflix button, a Hulu button, an Apple TV+ button, etc.
My smart TV plays advertisements alongside a screensaver if you leave it for long enough, that’s how it was only a couple hundred bucks.

Apple on the other hand has a pretty large margin on all of their products and any losses they take on cheaper models are balanced out by Apple service subscriptions and other things, Apple’s use of advertisements and third-party integrations is pretty limited for the most part.

 

[JCCL]

Good luck with that with no sim card slot

The post I was replying to is about the original iPhone.

 

[Andeddu]

It’s still a very well designed premium device which is definitely not something I’d consider budget. I think the price is a little steep but inflation has went through the roof since 2020 so I guess we can accept that our dollarydoos aren’t worth much in today’s economy.

We am tempted to upgrade my 13 with this but I am also curious as to what the 17 line will be like. I suppose I’ll wait!

 

[sdfox7]

Apple is a Premium brand (haven't seen that term being used here in a while).
There is no Premium brand in this world that sells "budget" stuff of any kind.

“Budget”, as in the unsold inventory of 5 year old MacBook Air M1 that Apple is trying to unload at Walmart for $600?

Steve Jobs never would approved having his brand being associated with us, the poor working class. 😂

 

[ProbablyDylan]

It's not a budget phone. It's a budget iPhone. Doesn't mean much to you or me but it matters to the layman.

 

[julesme]

"Things sure were cheaper back in the old days". Yes, obviously. Inflation happens. 2007 was ages ago, grandpa.

I remember when Audrey used to get a quarter for rubbing grandma’s “real painful burr” on her heel. A WHOLE QUARTER.

 

[webkit]

Liked I said earlier, you could walk out the Apple Store without any plan. I did this.

I was commenting on how it was marketed and intended to be sold, not with jailbreaking or anything like that.

From the Apple website when the iPhone launched in 2007:
Minimum new 2-year wireless service plan and activation fee required to activate iPhone features, including iPod; plans are subject to AT&T credit approval.

From the AT&T website when the iPhone launched in 2007:
To use iPhone, you'll need to sign up for a 2-year service agreement.

 

[webkit]

From the first Iphone SE was released in 2016 for $349. Since then, year over year cost growth of the budget iPhone through se 2nd generation/$399/2020 and through 3rd Generation/$429/2022 was exactly 3.5% growth year over year. For this phone it should have landed at $476.

Instead from the 3rd generation phone (2022) to todays $599 phone is 12% year over year cost growth. Count me out. Apple Intelligence is not worth an additional $123 to anyone.

The starting price of the original iPhone SE was $399 (not $349) with 16GB which would be around $535 in today's dollars. Given that the 16e is much larger, has eight times the base storage, and includes many things not even available on previous SE models including Apple Intelligence, emergency SOS via satellite, crash detection, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, ceramic shield, etc., I don’t think $599 is that bad of a price.