Nah, that's the Cayman </pedantry off>

iPhone does not represent wealth, just people happy to pay over the odds for something worth a lot less.

But me if the less expensive can satisfy my demand I will try.

I would buy an iPhone with the same size screen as the 4S, but with upgraded features.

The 'tall' iPhone doesn't do it for me.

you're unlikely to get that. because you are in a tiny minority of people.

i think a cheaper iPhone would be bad (in the long term) for Apple. With the iPhone you currently have a level playing field. You buy a new phone in Q4 of a year and you have the same phone as everyone else who buys into the Apple way (maybe more or less memory but the same phone). You have the same phone whether you are a film star or a vicky pollard. its a leveller. From people i know this is a benefit of the Apple ecosystem. If you bring in another model then you go the way of Samsung, HTC etc where there is 'brand snobbery' within the company brand itself. Some S3 users see themselves as superior to S3 mini users for example. Im not saying this is right but its inevitable. Same would happen with the iPhone. People with the lesser model would be looked down on by some of those with the more expensive model. In the same way that (a minority) used to say that people with Android phones simply couldnt 'afford' an iPhone that same minority will turn on the budget users.

The 'warm' feeling that apparently comes with iPhone ownership would become diluted and that cant be good.

Its already been seen to a degree with the iPad mini where (a minority of) iPad users are/were claiming that mini owners simply couldnt afford 'the real thing'. Obviously wrong as the small form factor is popular for other reasons but the comments were still made ....

The same was said when the 4s came out and it looked the same as the 4. I heard comments like, how will people know I have a 4s? Others who stuck with the 4, were saying I will tell people its a 4s, they wont know the diference. Brand snobbery exists in all brands, but in apple its especially prevalent.

agreed - but its always been a case of 'you buy this years model you are an equal' ..... two models yearly would change that. Its that small band that feel the need to justify their expensive purchase by belittling those who have made a less expensive purchase.

they aren't interested in how their users feel though.

it's just about marginal pricing. being able to get from people what they are willing to pay.

you pick your price point say £600. you could still sell them at a profit at say £400 and more people would buy them. you could even sell some at £800 but you would sell less. when you have one model you have to pick the price point to maximise profit.

but if you can differentiate you can potentially get the £800 people to pay £800 and still make a profit out of the £400 people too. it's why your hairdresser offers a discount for pensioners.

despite the fact that apple practically print money the market demands growth.

At work, 4S owners differentiate from the 4 users by talking to that idiot who lives in the phone

does anyone really use Siri/Google voice search in public ?? i can see them being useful for in-car use but .....

I don't use it at all. My boys use Android Assistant, but only to ask it rude questions....naughty kids.

Apple have denied it:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01..._cheap_iphone/

I imagine Apple are playing around with their firmware so that the can market an alternative cheap iPhone to places where share is minimal.

Brazil with less than 2% and Spain with very low share would be ideal candidates for an iPhone locked to selected networks of those countries. It makes sense, and a good reason why a jailbreak may not reappear.

That Shanghai Evening News withdrew an article that Reuters used. The word was that theu withdrew it rather than apologise and/or correct it.

I think it is still likely though keeping the iPhone prices high is for the 'attainment allure'. Thus that strong need for network control of a budget iPhone. They are already/still blocking 4G on the Swiss iPhone 5 so it sounds easy for them to do network control.

All you advert phone users (sorry android) are funny

I think they need to make an iPhone with a 4.5 inch 720p screen. I'm sure they will do at some point.

What is an advert phone?

Anyone have a clue what this one is on about?..

I do doubt however he will come back and respond

I suspect he's suggesting that people are being influenced by Samsung advertising - but none of us on here are influenced by brands/marketing are we

Just to (sort of) bring this thread back on topic, I have been thinking about the whole brand thing. Although none of us on here like to think we are coerced/beguiled by brands I must confess that sometimes I play safe by choosing a brand. I know full well that I am not getting the best value for money (brand = extra profit) but conversely I am less likely to end up either throwing the object in the bin or wasting hours trying to make it do what I want. But I would like to think that I don't buy a brand for bragging rights - heck, I have an iP5 that I keep in an ugly black case with a piece of metal stuck on the back to make it dead easy to stick onto one of the many magnets in my cars. I will almost always opt for function over form but I sometimes buy a brand if I am feeling lazy and can't be bothered to go through a complex purchasing decision. Although I agree you can't always guarantee it, you are more likely to find the item fit for purpose.

If you buy brand for quality assurance i'm sure Philips or some other reliable brand offer a phone of good quality with good customer service. i'm pretty sure you don't have to go to apple in order that you aren't 'likely to end up either throwing the object in the bin or wasting hours trying to make it do what I want.'

Hardly messing about, docking your phone and then doing nothing is it?

Apple? Use industry standards? I think not.

They'll invent a screen with a 1300*800 resolution and call it Retina HD and bang on about how it's amazing and that no other phone has as good a screen...

Fixed it for you

Samsung's a perfectly good brand and I would probably buy something like an S3 if it were not for the fact that there's a lot of things I need my iPhone for that the S3 can't do.
Anyway, a phone's a bit of a bad example because that is an area where I have gone to the time and trouble to make (for me) the correct purchasing decision. As an example I recently bought a pair of trainers and as I'm not the slightest bit interested in trainers I bought some Nikes on the basis that they would probably be alright and fairly comfortable. I probably could have got something just as good for half the price.

When the first Iphone came out it was way ahead of it's time and it changed the phone market, but there are plenty of phones out there that are cheaper and will do the same thing just as good.

so no I would not buy a cheaper Iphone. What I am going to get I have no idea, but it won't be a Iphone or windows based for that matter.