For many iPhone power users, news that the iPhone 8 (arriving as a sort-of tenth-anniversary edition) will sell for north of a grand isn’t jaw-dropping. As it stands now, the iPhone 7 Plus maxed out with 256 gigabytes of storage gets you within spitting distance at $969. But for those of us who have been content with earlier iterations, other brands, or cushy upgrade packages, seeing a fourth figure in the price tag may set off alarm bells. (This piece from BGR calls a $1,000 price tag from Apple “courageous,” which suggests our definitions of courage differ wildly.) Another estimate by iPhone8look puts the price at $1,200.
A lot of changes and fanfare are expected around the device, which may break naming tradition with the moniker iPhone X, a nod to the tenth-anniversary rather than the 8th iteration of the phone. Further, at least some models are expected to feature an OLED display rather than an LCD screen, which will stretch across the entire face of the phone, creating a borderless appearance and larger viewable surface. It’s estimated in this Fast Company article that the display upgrade alone will cost Apple twice what the old ones did.
Here’s a rendering of the phone based on descriptions and anticipated features:
Rumors abound regarding integration of some 3D technology, which is possible, but completely speculative at this point.
More good news (if you’re willing to float the cash) comes in rumors of a much larger battery which consumers may balk at upon seeing purchase price, but a year or two down the line, who wouldn’t contribute another $100 or so to get a little more use out of a charge?
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We’re also about six months away from the reveal, and then a few more weeks away from the sale of the iPhone 8/iPhone X, and economic uncertainty could certainly play a role in the price point of the device as well, though Apple’s enjoyed inelastic demand when it comes to its products thus far, so bowing to external economic factors seems unlikely.
So…$1,000 for an iPhone. And probably not even the best iPhone. Whether or not you’re a potential customer for the product, Apple remains the leader in the field of smartphones, and history’s indicated that whatever Apple does tends to become the consumer standard (for better or worse, I’ll concede). Considering phone usage and utility continues to climb, this benchmark’s been a long time coming, but is jarring nonetheless, especially considering the increased cost offers no more protection that we won’t drop the damn thing or leave it on top of our car as we drive to work.
The price would also put the iPhone at a new point in the spectrum of Apple’s offerings, coming in more expensive than most iPads and now the lower-end laptop computers, which hover around the $1,000 mark as well. So as much as the price could be a reflection of what’s going into the new phone, it could also simply be a reflection of how much our phones mean to us in 2017.
