Does the iPhone 8 mean the 7S is a mid-level device?

dcunited08

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The more I think about the iPhone 8, the more I wonder if people will be happy to buy the 7S at current prices now that it will be the mid-level device. Until now you could buy the latest iPhone and know you had the best. If you wanted to save money, buy last year's phone and it is still almost as good. Now, we have the unique position of buying a phone slightly better than last year but not as good as this year's for this year's price. But if you want this year's phone, you have to pay a lot more.

Selling people who are used to buying premium items that they will only get second-rate items for the same price now is a hard sale.
 

Rob Phillips

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Good question. I’m one of those guys who will be getting the highest level of iPhone. A lot of it is me just wanting the next gen features but I’m also a guy who doesn’t want a second rate phone, even if it would still be incrementally better than my iPhone 7 Plus. I personally think that we’ll see a lot of people pay the extra money for the high end device and a lot of people holding out for 2018 hoping Apple incorporates a lot of the high end specs into regular priced phone.

It will be interesting to see how Apple pulls this one off. They’re clever marketers so I’m sure they’ll find a way to spin it.
 

dcunited08

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I think we will see the premium phone going forward if it sells to their metrics. The margin they can work into that phone is too high to quit after this year. Features will trickle down over the next year or two but then new features will be added to the premium so it will always be the best iPhone.
 

cwbcpa

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It will definitely be interesting to see how the keynote plays out. Apple can spin just about anything and people seem to eat it up. This year is definitely more of a challenge. I'm not spending over a grand myself, but I'm sure plenty of people can justify it and I hope they enjoy their phone regardless of which one they choose.
 

anon(50597)

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I will never pay those prices for the latest and greatest. The other devices not only are high level compared to what's out there but also suit my needs just fine.
 

Rob Phillips

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It will definitely be interesting to see how the keynote plays out. Apple can spin just about anything and people seem to eat it up. This year is definitely more of a challenge. I'm not spending over a grand myself, but I'm sure plenty of people can justify it and I hope they enjoy their phone regardless of which one they choose.

I would never spend over a grand on an iPhone, until I do. It’s all about value. If I find enough value to justify the extra expense then I have no problem doing so. I’ll know more in September!
 

cwbcpa

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I would never spend over a grand on an iPhone, until I do. It’s all about value. If I find enough value to justify the extra expense then I have no problem doing so. I’ll know more in September!

That is so true. I say I won't but if the value is there...

Right now I'm shopping for my first MacBook so that's taking priority this year.
 

ksassy

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To me it does sorta feel like the 7s will be the lesser than model and it's not a cheap phone either by Apple standards. At a certain price point I start looking at value for the money. I know the Apple marketing machine will have to be creative on this one in order to capture both ends of their market strategy so we'll have to wait and see how it out plays out.
 

anon(50597)

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It all depends on what people mean by value. Is it a real need or just a perceived (through marketing) one? That's the game here. If you're Apple (or any company marketing a product) you want to sell people on the higher priced product. I'm not saying there isn't value for some people, just not for most. It's like believing your going to hit the jackpot at the casino or with one of those scratch off cards. The house always wins.
 

dcunited08

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All value is perceived, especially when discussing the iPhone. Very few people can say they make money by using an iPhone and none of the rumored features for the 8 would provide economic value over the 7S to my understanding. As a developer, I could make a case that a MacBook Pro gives me value over an Air or that more RAM would allow me to make more money by doing more work in the same amount of time.

Since we are dealing with perceived value, Apple has to push the value of the 7S over the 7 and 6S plus provide for 8 to be more than all 3.
 

anon(62000)

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That is so true. I say I won't but if the value is there...

Right now I'm shopping for my first MacBook so that's taking priority this year.

I was just going to say that. Well, it won't be my FIRST Macbook, but I'm correcting my mistake of buying a Windows laptop.
 

cwbcpa

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I was just going to say that. Well, it won't be my FIRST Macbook, but I'm correcting my mistake of buying a Windows laptop.

I ended up getting the 2017 MacBook Pro 13". I spent most of the day setting it up but so far I'm very impressed.
 

popkurn611

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The one thing that will get me to spend over a thousand dollars on the iPhone 8 will be the form factor. Now here is the thousand dollar question....Is that considered enough of a "change" or an "upgrade" to justify spending that much. Hmm not sure.

The 4.7" is way too small for me, yet the 5.5" iPhone 7 plus which is what I have now is slightly too large for me. I make do with it but I was much more comfortable with the smaller bezel and form factor of the s7 edge. Not to mention the fact that the screen will be even larger than 5.5" and the phone will be much smaller than the plus model will be a huge selling point. I'm just not yet convinced that is worth spending that much. I am sure I will get it though because comfort in using my phone is important on a daily basis. Wait, did I just convince myself?!
 

Just_Me_D

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If the rumors are true then I think the iPhone 8 will be a gorgeous looking device, but I’m not paying upward of $999 for any smartphone anytime soon. I’ve been considering the size of the 4.7” iPhone the last couple of years even though I’ve chosen the Plus size each time. This time, however, if I opt to get the next probable S model iPhone, I will more than likely get the 4.7” model.
 

cwbcpa

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That's the one I'm leaning towards. 256GB is going to make me rethink the way I store things but I've got a few external drives I can use.

I don't want to side track this thread, but this is a topic I was going to bring up in the MacBook forum. Bottom line, I'm not as concerned as I thought I would be.