Locator: 49055AAPL.
IN PROGRESS.
The four new iPhones and their entry level prices. A poorly written article. One would never know that Apple held prices steady just reading the head line and summary. This is quite a remarkable story.
- for first time ever, all base models come with 256GB memory;
- iPhone 17, base model; the sedan: $799, price unchanged from last year
- iPhone 17 Air, base model; the sports car: $999; compare with the iPhone 16 Plus, $899;
- iPhone 17 Pro, base model; SUV: $1,099, price unchanged from last year's iPhone 16Pro/256 GB;
- iPhone 17 Pro Max, base model; SUV decked out: most premium device, no increase in price; $1,199;
The buzz:
- the sports car is going to outsell the sedan by a large margin,
- the thin, titanium iPhone will have a cachet that the rich and famous will have to have;
- the sports car will cannibalize the entry-level SUVs
- the $999 vs $799 could make a interesting margin?
Beyond its ultra-thin design, the iPhone 17 Air differs from the standard iPhone 17 with a more powerful A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera instead of two, and a lightweight titanium frame, whereas the standard iPhone 17 uses an A19 chip, has two rear cameras, and an aluminum unibody.
The Air also features a larger 6.5-inch ProMotion display, while the iPhone 17 has a slightly smaller 6.27-inch display with a similar 120Hz refresh rate
There are suggestions that once someone holds the iPhone Air, the sports car, there's no going back. Apparently the "Air" is simply unbelievable.
Apple introduces four new iPhones. This will require a stand-alone post.
Without getting into why I asked ChatGPT this question I will simply post this -- something I thought about before the Apple presentation today.
The ChatGPT prompt: how many cellphones was Nokia selling at its height, compared with how may iPhones are now being sold? Then, second, how much money was Nokia making at its height compared to how much money Apple is making off its iPhones?
ChatGPT gave me a very, very long answer which I may post later, but suffice it to say this:
- at its height, Nokia was selling twice as many phones as Apple is selling now;
- at hits height, Nokia was making half as much money (accounting for inflation) than Apple is making now;
- Apple is making twice the amount of money Nokia was making selling cell phones despite Apple selling half as many phones as Nokia was selling then;
- it's all about margins
- Apple stuck with high margin ("expensive") phones and has refused to give in;
- Apple has not taken on the low end of the cellular phone market (as many analysts have suggested they do).
After that question, I asked ChatGPT the defining moment when Nokia lost the cell phone battle to Apple.
I may post the answer later. It's an incredible thread.
But the question is important because some analysts are suggesting that the"ground is shaking under Apple's feet" and by not have their own in-house AI they may lose the cellphone battle to Androids or some other competitor (think Jony Ive developing his own AI-based device). Think of the collaboration between Jony Ive and OpenAI:
Jony Ive is not developing an AI-based "cellphone" but is instead partnering with OpenAI to create a new category of screen-free, AI-centric hardware devices.
This new product is intended to be a "third core device" that complements—rather than replaces—your laptop and smartphone.
One needs to be concerned that the screen-free AI-centric device will, indeed, replace the phone.
We can explore that later, perhaps.
