Or non upgradeable pcs?
Or making you dispose your perfectly good screen, when your iMac gets old?
Resale value is high due too really good marketing and brand recognition combined with high prices.
People will often buy a 3 year old iPhone instead of technically superior new Android phone for some price, just to have this brand.
Not necessarily. Using one specific data point, I can also claim to make this argument invalid. The three year old iPhone will certainly, and surely, run the latest iOS, whereas the new Android phone (priced the same as a three year old used iPhone) is highly likely to have an OS that's already a year or two older and will never get updates in the future, putting the user at a much higher risk. So which is better?
Both new are priced in the range of used 6.
Both run latest Android and will have updates for 3-4 years, since they both have non vendor modified Android.
My iPhone 6s is starting to act up, especially when cold but I haven't replaced the battery in that yet. I'll probably get that done this summer when the phone gets to the point it can't go a full day without a charge.
I don't care about the supposed technological superiority of a cellphone. I just want it to work. Apple seems to put more effort in to privacy and security and I like their business model more than Google's. I prefer to be a customer instead of a product.
And my desktop PC is better. What's the point of this?
You can't upgrade anything on a new MBP, and every computer i had so far had at least a RAM upgrade in it's life. With Macbook, you just have to throw it away, which isn't too eco friendly, is it?
> I don't care about the supposed technological superiority of a cellphone.
Why don't you buy a Nokia 8100 then? It just works :)
On the other side, every other phone on the market at the time had a battery cover and toolless replacement was possible.
It got a bit harder with iPhone 5 though, since screws now secure front panel, not back to the chassis.
Which means that your old iPhone goes to someone else rather than the landfill…
> People will often buy a 3 year old iPhone instead of technically superior new Android phone for some price, just to have this brand.
Technically superior in what way?
Your Android phone will too, you will just be paid less for it.
> Technically superior in what way?
Bigger screen with better resolution,
better camera,
faster UI,
NFC,
wireless charging,
USB-C with fastcharge,
longer battery life,
expandable storage,
and most important, possibility to install a decent web browser instead of having to rely on app for every website you visit :)
I think the big N still has it going.
I don't see this trend at all in my environment. Actually quite contrary. Some, who love Apple products, always upgrade really soon. I've got an Sony smartphone for 6 years. Regarding tablets, my parents, sisters, parents in law have an Android tablet, Surface and iPad and independent of the brand they all have theirs for years and don't plan to upgrade soon.
So, this is a myth common to premium products. Probably part of the marketing strategy (same for cars, kitchen gear, etc.).
The products have extremely long usage cycles relative to the industry standard. It's such that they've integrated the environmental impact deep into their product design and business.
You can argue that this is simply a byproduct, but they've talked a lot about it over the years that it's pretty deliberate.