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iPhone 16e iPhone launched in 2007 for $499. How is $599 a budget phone?
- Thread starter Yr Blues
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Some pre-paid companies are already offering discounts on it, up to $300 with plan activation.
I always liked the subsidized phone cost as well. Didn't mind signing a 2 year contract with Verizon or TMobile for it. Unless you buy the phone outright from Apple you are still basically signing a 2 year contract and paying more for the phone. They used the argument that plan prices would be lowered but they have consistently increased during that same time
You may have taken it as condescending, but it wasn’t meant to be that way. It’s just fact that if you’re making a very small amount of money, it’s very difficult to afford an expensive device like an iPhone. There are people in countries that make less than $100 a month so they have a difficult time affording things like an iPhone. They have to go for an android phone and there’s nothing wrong with that. Maybe some save their money for a long period of time but I feel like spending even three months salary on a phone seems difficult
iMessage, AirDrop, iCloud backup and Apple Pay are the main ones that come to mind for me.
Yes, I know there are apps that attempt to duplicate these features, but none do it as well.
Why would you tell someone, that’s only stating their own preference, that they’re wrong? You know their mind, needs, wants, and value system better than they do? 🤔
Exactly. 👍🏽
One should be more complaining about why one’s wages hasn’t increased.
compare peoples pay priced in with inflation there's no raise so how is it better
As long as it is the cheapest new (not used or refurbished) iPhone, that is all it takes for many consumers and most businesses. Capabilities and limitations don’t matter to many. Just being a NEW Apple product and the lowest price will make it a business success.
No raise?? U.S. median household income in 2007 was around $50,233. In 2023, it was around $80,610. 2024 estimates are around $82,500.
Adjusting for inflation, $50,233 in January 2008 is around $75,600 in January 2025 dollars. $80,610 (2023) and $82,500 (2024 estimate) median incomes both increased MORE than inflation.
The 2025 equivalent of $499 dollars in 2007 is about $635 dollars today, so the 16E at $599 dollars is actually a savings of about $35 bucks to you. Taking inflation into account, you can look at it this way; Apple has refined its product and improved its technology and they still were able to drop their price to consumers by about 5.7%
This is before sales promotions and such as well, so one can do even better when rolling in promotional and bundle deals.
1. With inflation, it was more expensive, relatively
2. Smartphones have become far more advanced
3. Smartphones have become more essential to people’s daily lives, and therefore more worthy of taking up a larger share of their budget
2. Smartphones have become far more advanced
3. Smartphones have become more essential to people’s daily lives, and therefore more worthy of taking up a larger share of their budget
The original iPhone barely had enhanced 2G data because Cingular barely had 2G data service, and there were no apps, except for Web 2.0, so it wasn't much when it arrived. When they dropped the price months later, it made more sense.
The 16e is a bit expensive, jumping from Touch ID to Face ID cost plenty. My 256 GB 2022 iPhone SE would have been $579 and the 256 GB 16e is $699. Everything else seems to be more expensive than it was in 2022 at the stores, though.
The 16e is a bit expensive, jumping from Touch ID to Face ID cost plenty. My 256 GB 2022 iPhone SE would have been $579 and the 256 GB 16e is $699. Everything else seems to be more expensive than it was in 2022 at the stores, though.
1. technology gets ever cheaper. We don't pay the same amount of our income towards PCs and cellphones compared to the 90ies and 2000s.
2. they regressed. Features were removed to make them cheaper and easier to produce. We don't get physical keyboards, deglared screens, stylus and replaceable batteries anymore for example. Even size has increased to allow for cheaper production.
3. As Wifi and PCs are ubiquitous, having a smartphone with mobile internet is less of an enabler than it was 25 years ago. Basically, you pay for convenience and entertainment. Hence it's now difficult to argue for a significant share of the budget compared to earlier times.
An interesting angle that I never see brought up in these kind of conversations are changes in manufacturing costs and already recouped R&D expenses. Components that were driving the costs in the 2007 product would be a fraction of the price in 2025.
A $599 phone today is actually cheaper to the consumer than a $399 version almost 2 decades ago, but how does it compare in actual value when the changes to the production costs are factored in?
Granted this is hard to answer. All comparisons are flawed because the 2025 version is a much different product than it was in 2007.
A $599 phone today is actually cheaper to the consumer than a $399 version almost 2 decades ago, but how does it compare in actual value when the changes to the production costs are factored in?
Granted this is hard to answer. All comparisons are flawed because the 2025 version is a much different product than it was in 2007.
I am still on a iPhone 12 and if this one breaks down. Maybe it was my last iPhone. Prices are getting crazy for phones with functions I don’t need.
Are they really cheaper and easier to produce when you factor in the costs of increasingly complex software though? In 2007 we had devices that weren't iPhones that had physical keyboards, but none of those devices also had to deal with having to connect to a watch or a remote display wirelessly. In 2007, I was thrilled to have a somewhat usable SSH terminal on my BlackBerry.
Same for me. And the SSH client on my iphone 13 doesn't run any more ergonomical, despite the "mini" being larger than the Q10. In 2005, my Nokia 9500 also had a pretty decent ssh terminal.
iOS also lacks the Hub and the ability to just type in what you like to do. It has a more primitive UI.
I don't see that software has improved in any meaningful way in general in the past 10 to 15 years. Not limited to mobiles. Most companies work with and enforce a software stack with their employees that is far inferior to that what I've been working with in the 2000s.