I kind of wonder about this one. It’s not like magnetic car mounts weren’t a thing before MagSafe but if someone already has a MagSafe mount, they may not be happy that their phone doesn’t work with it. However, I don’t think this is product marketed to the “cool kids” so grandma might not have a MagSafe mount in her car. I think this is a really entry-level fountain because it’s even below the base model iPhone that most people are still going to buy.
You’re absolutely correct. Apple is really good at figuring out what customers actually want and making a product that’s competitive so they’ll buy it. That’s the hallmark of a good company.
It’s definitely not what I’d call cheap because you can buy an android phone for less than $100. I do like it though because it lowers the bar of entry to the iOS ecosystem sort of like the Mac mini does for macOS.
You sound like SE was not iOS