Many of them do, but I'm sure most just think they do.

It did until 2017 when I traded my 2015 MBP for a new one.

If you liked your MBP good for you. I'm not sure why me not liking mine makes you mad.

Did it ever occur to you that people buy mechanical keyboards because it's just good/better?

(And P.S. subjective ideas of good/better are what they are, but no fair objective analysis of price and value would agree with you. A thousand dollar phone is a pure status symbol and owning it has nothing to do with a rational attempt to achieve value per dollar)

I buy mechanical keyboards because I prefer them for desktop use. I buy iPhones because I prefer iOS's app ecosystem. These are both subjective but rational choices.

I own a $1000 phone and avoid as much as possible other people in public seeing it, because I don't want it to get stolen and I think being recognized for owning a "status symbol" is awkward.

Is it really so hard to believe that some people buy the most expensive iPhone simply because it's the best phone available on the market?

He never said no one buys apple without thinking about status.

"Is it really so hard to believe that some people buy the most expensive iPhone simply because it's the best phone available on the market?"

I can believe that you THINK it's the best, and worth the money -- that's literally what advertising is for and how status symbols work -- but of course I would reject any claim that any $1000 phone is worth it on the merits. (Example, this 'pro' branded flagship phone comes standard with a bottom-of-the-industry 32GB of space, a laughably inferior specification for 2019 flagships where 64gb is standard and 128gb base is available. That's objectively the worst, not the best).

The iPhone 11 and 11 Pro both have a base storage of 64gb. If you are going to claim that a phone is overpriced at least get the specs you're complaining about right.