Word on the street is that September 9 is going to be a pretty busy day. Apple's going to announce not just one new iPhone, but two. Two! A 4.7- and 5.5-inch iPhone 6. And, in two fell swoops, going to finally give bigger devices to the clamoring customers who have been demanding it for at least two years now. It's been a long time coming, sure, because the rest of the wireless market has been drowning us in larger (huge) devices. Apple's been biding their time, and so far it's worked out for them.
And yet, I can't help but wonder if this is when they could get tripped up.
First, I'm not saying that Apple's doomed. And by "tripped up," I mean maybe they get yelled at by the Internet for a little bit longer than we already know they're going to be, anyway. The fact that Apple's finally making bigger iPhones is reason enough alone for a lot of people to switch to the Cupertino-based company's product.
And a lot of those people are just going to do it, despite anything presented to them. The same can be said for the people who have been Apple loyalists for a stretch, and are going to buy whatever new product Apple launches no matter what. Those people are out there, and there's nothing wrong with that. As long as they're happy with what they're buying and using, well, that's fantastic.
In the last couple of days, though, I can't help but wonder just how high the new iPhones are going to be priced. It's not like these handsets have ever been "cheap." Even when Apple was supposed to launch a cheap iPhone, they didn't. There's always been a certain premium price tag to an Apple-branded product, and there's certainly no reason to think that's going to stop now.
But, as the iPhone gets bigger, as big as 5.5-inches maybe, one would have to wonder if Apple's going to hike up the price tag for the device, too. Horace Dediu believes it's possible, with the largest of the iPhone 6 variants expected to have a price tag starting at $800 -- for the base model. And now, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is once again considering asking for an even more premium price tag with their "high-end" iPhone 6 models. Those devices would have the same screen sizes as the "normal" iPhone 6 variants, but would instead offer sapphire glass.
Unless Apple decides to eat the cost of the sapphire glass iPhone 6 models, which is certainly a possibility, then it's perfectly reasonable to think that they might charge more for them -- and charge less for iPhone 6 models that don't offer the tougher displays.
Ultimately, it's going to be whatever Apple decides, and Apple will sell whatever that decision is. The question is: how much are you willing to pay for a bigger iPhone (admittedly running iOS 8)? Would you consider buying it outright if it starts at $800? Or, is paying that off in monthly installments something you'll probably do? Or, even go with a new, two-year agreement? Let me know!