I don't think so.
A Mercedes will get you laid, the latest iphone won't and likely never will.
cell phones stopped being status symbols long before smart phones were created by apple and I don't see them going back to that.
Not having one might harm your chances, though.
Only because it’s a sign you have money, not because cars are cool.
> the latest iphone won't and likely never will.
When apple has a $5k iPhone it may once again become a status symbol.
Almost 50% of Americans have an iPhone of some version. It’s obviously not a status symbol of everyone has one. iPhones, like cars, are mostly undifferentiated.
Apple has a lot of room to build a status symbol, but admittedly they haven’t been too successful when trying with the Apple Watch, so I will admit the odds are low they’ll succeed, but I believe the market exists in the long run.
The other issue is copying it is too easy, so even if Apple tried the look of it would very quickly get copied.
Smartphones are present in ~85% of US households, and about 45% of US smartphone users have an iPhone; that’s significantly less than 50% of Americans with an iPhone.
The iPhone 14 (non pro) uses much of the iPhone 13’s internals, while the Pro gets upgraded. I think this is basically how the watch already is. I expect this is the future, the upgraded won’t really matter and won’t really exist beyond slight aesthetic tweaks. It’s like cars, no matter which year you get, they all drive just fine and are mostly the same internally. I’ve long said that cars are the natural comparison to these sort of electronics. Cars and phones are probably the two most expensive and utilitarian things people regularly buy. They come out with new ones every year, but don’t do major refreshes every year so you don’t really have a reason to tine when to buy one. I think it also indicates that we’ll see a price stagnating base-model phone and an ever increasing top-tier model as the companies explore how much people are willing to spend (a Corolla vs a Mercedes).
The nice thing about the steady new versions is that you can always go to the store and buy the biggest-number iPhone version and not worry about lifespan or if it’s good (contrast with a game console: if you buy the PS4 6mo before the PS5 comes out, you made a mistake).