Then, a 10% corporate income tax rate is put in place.
Does Apple raise the price of the phone to $1,100? Is that now the profit maximizing decision?
According to your claim "Ultimately, only people pay taxes," the answer is yes - Apple would immediately raise the price of the iPhone to offset the loss incurred by the new tax. Except that then, fewer people would buy iPhones. We already know that $1,100 is not the profit maximizing price point for a phone. So, the amount Apple would increase its price is a function of the price sensitivity of iPhone buyers.
This is a little tricky to explain, but khan academy has a video that explains it quite well.
https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/microec...
$1,000 is a profit maximizing price point with 0 % taxes. With 10 % taxes it would be different.
I didn't intend to "assert" that, and I think it's fair to ask you to elaborate, as I believe there are assumptions embedded in your interpretation of what I wrote.
edit: Grammar.
edit1: Do you think Apple incorporates the cost of the tax burden into the price of an iPhone? I think it really comes down to whether you think Apple would reduce their unit price if it would ultimately result in gross profit increases. It's like taking VC financing, "Do you want to own 100% of a $500K/yr revenue company or 49% of a $3M/yr revenue company?"