Just want to point out that you can get a brand new iPhone (in the US) for $429 (+ tax), and often times you can get it even cheaper if you trade in or accept carrier deals. I dont think that iMessage is the only sticky property of the iPhone. Things like long term support via updates is another big one. The “ecosystem” of devices and services.

Comparable devices cost pretty much the same whether iPhone or Android.

While most people may not care it’s also worth noting that the alternative OS (Android) is operated by one of the largest ad-tech companies in the world and allows for deep oem integrations of 3rd party applications (that 99.9% of its users aren’t even aware of as being installed.)