There was a post I saw recently, that I thought Gruber linked to but I can't find it anymore, about how Apple's strategy of taking old phones and selling them as the lower tier models is great because it means people can buy those phones and nobody can tell that they bought a lower-tier phone (because it looks like they could have just bought the top-tier phone last year and not gotten around to upgrading yet). This was also used to explain why the 5C was apparently a flop, because it was immediately obvious to anybody that a 5C owner bought the cheap phone.
Status symbols are important.
I hope that's not the reason, because it a huge wart on the side of a device that already isn't as thin and elegant as it might be.
But who knows?
The LTE version is only $70 more. That's not going to wow anyone. (Well, plus a monthly service charge, which is more significant financially, but has no weight as a status symbol.) Meanwhile, there are more expensive upgrades that are at least as obtrusive, like the stainless-steal case and those designer bands.
I mean, I don't really get it either, but it isn't this.
Maybe it's just a way to highlight a significant new feature?
But I don't get it either. I always bought my iPhones when they did the hardware revision (the "s" models), not the design change.
It's like how folks said Starbucks cups were a status symbol. On what planet does $3 buy you status?
I hate the red dot too. Already ordered my WatchDots.