Apple will increase feature gap in the iPhone 15, says Kuo

From Apple's perspective it makes more sense to differentiate on features as they have more models to spread them over now (since they moved on from the two model approach).

They have always used upsell to squeeze (bleed!) more out of users (through storage for example) and now they can start upselling with more feature differences, even if those features come late and at a price. 

It's not great for consumers but it's up to consumers to decide. I jumped ship because I couldn't see the bang for buck that I wanted. 

Apple can always adjust prices to stimulate demand if it slackens. Let's not forget it wasn't long ago that it had to stick huge discounts (through trade-in offers) on its home page before Christmas to stimulate demand. 

I can't help but think that consumers are being undersold again here especially on the non-pro models but the market will decide and Apple has room for manoeuvre. 

It's not shocking that the vast majority are getting the Pro. Entry level customers and enterprises are getting the SE, and both standard models are so expensive that financing is needed, so when you are going to keep a device for 2+ years it only makes sense to spend the extra few bucks per month to get the more feature-rich version so it stays relevant longer.

avon b7 said:

From Apple's perspective it makes more sense to differentiate on features as they have more models to spread them over now (since they moved on from the two model approach).

They have always used upsell to squeeze (bleed!) more out of users (through storage for example) and now they can start upselling with more feature differences, even if those features come late and at a price. 

It's not great for consumers but it's up to consumers to decide. I jumped ship because I couldn't see the bang for buck that I wanted. 

Apple can always adjust prices to stimulate demand if it slackens. Let's not forget it wasn't long ago that it had to stick huge discounts (through trade-in offers) on its home page before Christmas to stimulate demand. 

I can't help but think that consumers are being undersold again here especially on the non-pro models but the market will decide and Apple has room for manoeuvre. 

This is absurdly wrong. Apple advertised the trade-in promo to make people aware of it and how to lower the price of what is, without a doubt, a high-demand bit of affordable luxury. The highest, even, I’d argue. The iPhone price is high because the demand is (wait for it…) high. MacBooks are higher priced than all the cheap PC notebooks much like iPhones & iPads cost more than all the cheap knockoffs. Offering a trade-in service helps lower this and bring in more buyers. It makes excellent sense and is no admission of weak demand. The job of marketers and sales strategists is to sell more, always.

Your bizarro world view of a chinese knockoff being on top and Apple struggling after it, really paints things very differently for you. 

Kuo is hardly reliable. I suspect the base 14 won’t sell insanely high because it’s basically the insides of a 13 Pro in the housing of a 13. (This is one of the reasons when I was leaving a job where I could get a discount in a 13 in the Spring I took it, the 13 is a good phone. 

StrangeDays said:

avon b7 said:

From Apple's perspective it makes more sense to differentiate on features as they have more models to spread them over now (since they moved on from the two model approach).

They have always used upsell to squeeze (bleed!) more out of users (through storage for example) and now they can start upselling with more feature differences, even if those features come late and at a price. 

It's not great for consumers but it's up to consumers to decide. I jumped ship because I couldn't see the bang for buck that I wanted. 

Apple can always adjust prices to stimulate demand if it slackens. Let's not forget it wasn't long ago that it had to stick huge discounts (through trade-in offers) on its home page before Christmas to stimulate demand. 

I can't help but think that consumers are being undersold again here especially on the non-pro models but the market will decide and Apple has room for manoeuvre. 

This is absurdly wrong. Apple advertised the trade-in promo to make people aware of it and how to lower the price of what is, without a doubt, a high-demand bit of affordable luxury. The highest, even, I’d argue. The iPhone price is high because the demand is (wait for it…) high. MacBooks are higher priced than all the cheap PC notebooks much like iPhones & iPads cost more than all the cheap knockoffs. Offering a trade-in service helps lower this and bring in more buyers. It makes excellent sense and is no admission of weak demand. The job of marketers and sales strategists is to sell more, always.

Your bizarro world view of a chinese knockoff being on top and Apple struggling after it, really paints things very differently for you. 

Nothing bizarro or absurdly wrong in what I said. 

Demand at the time was not high. It was worryingly low and prompted Apple to plant the increased discounts on its front page before Christmas. Front and centre. Totally in your face. That was unheard of for Apple. 

Not only that. It. Decided to manage those increased discounts directly itself and not through a third party.

It also allowed Chinese retailers to direct discount phones to stimulate demand.

And IIRC there were all hands meetings chaired by Tim Cook to manage the bottom falling out of demand. 

It is the sole reason my wife now has an XR. I wasn't going to pay the obscene prices Apple wanted for what was on offer.