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Re:The Secret Economics of the Birkin Bag by gamblor956 on Monday July 24, 2023 @04:33PM (#36853811)
Upper-middle class people can't afford Ferraris or Lamborghinis. If you can afford either of those cars, which start in the six-figures, you are not middle class, you are very definitely upper class. You can't even get on the list to buy one of these cars without a bank account balance in the 7 figures.

Also...every major wireless company offers iPhones free or heavily discounted. iPhones aren't the luxury goods anymore, they're the cheap alternative. If you want quality, you get a Samsung Galaxy. My Galaxy SIII still works (note: I use a Galaxy S22 for my day-to-day; the SIII is my hiking/biking computer.); while every iPhone user I know has had to replace their iPhones an average at least once per model, under warranty, in the decade since then. iPhone build quality is so bad that even Apple doesn't bother to actually fix problematic phones, they just straight up replace them. iPhones are the equivalent of dollar store brands: they seem like a good deal upfront but you end up paying way more for them over time.

Re:The Secret Economics of the Birkin Bag by skibble on Monday July 24, 2023 @05:24PM (#36854402)
Your comment about iPhone build quality is as anecdotal as they come. Here's my counterpoint anecdotal take: I've had pretty much every iPhone model since the iPhone 3G, and the tiny number of issues I've had have been straightforward (a free screen replacement as a result of a publicly acknowledged issue, for example). I also work in the repair sector (not for Apple), and have seen absolutely no evidence to support your claim that iPhones are dying left and right.

When Apple do entire device replacements, this is simply because for weird issues it's a quicker and easier on-the-spot resolution for both the end user and the Genius Bar than spending days depriving the owners of pretty vital devices trying to reproduce odd issues. Articles abound detailing how exacting Apple are with suppliers, e.g:

https://www.theverge.com/23743095/apple-watch-band-release-x...

Re:The Secret Economics of the Birkin Bag by seabass-labrax on Monday July 24, 2023 @05:39PM (#36854584)
From vodafone.co.uk:

  Samsung Galaxy A14 5G - £15 per month + £9  upfront
                          £563 in total  (3yrs no inflation)
  Apple iPhone 11       - £32 per month + £19 upfront
                          £1191 in total (3yrs no inflation)
The iPhone 11 is being sold for £480 on Amazon - I'm struggling to see where the heavy discount is.
Re:The Secret Economics of the Birkin Bag by bluedino on Wednesday July 26, 2023 @08:37AM (#36876628)
In the USA, pre-paid providers offer the iPhone 11 for $49

https://www.boostmobile.com/stores/offers?intcid:HP:BF:Banne...

Re:The Secret Economics of the Birkin Bag by seabass-labrax on Thursday July 27, 2023 @06:27PM (#36900968)
That link is blocked for me, unfortunately. Assuming that it is indeed cheaper than the equivalent models from competitors, why do the carriers do it? Do Apple subsidise the offer to maintain market share so that they can sell add-on products?
Re:The Secret Economics of the Birkin Bag by gamblor956 on Thursday July 27, 2023 @01:33PM (#36897208)
The iPhone 14 Pro is being offered for free, right now at Verizon...