“Sixty-three percent of adults said they would cover a hypothetical $400 emergency expense exclusively using cash or its equivalent, unchanged from 2022 and 2023 but down from a high of 68 percent in 2021.”

https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2025-economic-we...

$999 is a lot of money.

> They are so commonplace and also not really that expensive where it is a financial flex like some watch that cost 10k+ or something.

I definitely agree about them being just about the most banal stupid toy you could spend the money on, but it's still a lot of money to a lot of people despite the cost of basic necessities making it not the huge amount that it used to be. I cringe at paying over $450, considering that every new model of phone since like 2015 hasn't really done anything worth significantly more money.

It's just a proxy for people to complain about the price. People will complain about a few hundred dollars in a phone price differences, even though it will be the one product they use more than anything else they own. And then not blink spending a couple extra grand on some car features/performance they use rarely or spend a thousand dollars a year on lattes.

I think it's -mostly- an age thing, and you simply matured out of it. For the most part.

I say that because I feel similarly, but my out of college coworkers rib me for not having an iPhone. One even commented he'd probably never text me in real life, to which I of course replied that I'd never want him to text me in real life.

Further, in the US, non-iPhone have terrible resale value, so the monthly cost of iPhone can be cheaper

They are between 1000 to 1500 USD over here in EU. Pretty much only very well off people are buying current gen iPhones. Many people have older models. We also don't have any Apple lock-in culture, so there is much less incentive to go out of your way to get iPhone specifically.

You're in the US.

> maybe I'm too in my own bubble

Is it a green bubble or a blue bubble? :)

The Pro is still seen by some as a "flex" by some, visibly having all three lenses. The Air is likely just a more visible flex, thus it will probably sell well.

I'm an Australian in my 40's almost everyone in my immediate circle (family, friends, work-peers) has an Android, at least in my world iPhone is a minority.

I grew up with Nokia phones all I want out of my phone is something cheap and rugged with a decent battery life.

You are in a bubble: the anglosphere. In most of the world, the iPhone does not dominate the market.

That's precisely why people need a phone focused on design and engineering to stand out.

> Is iPhone still viewed as a status symbol?

In wealthy circles, no. Anywhere else, yes, it’s a thousand-dollar device.

There’s status in not being one of the android paupers.

Yes, only by people who own an iPhone. It's a special kind of bubble.

I have my iPhone 13 Pro Max for 4 years now and the only problem I really have is storage and the battery.

I'm debating if I just replace the battery and let this run another year... since the iPhone X I haven't seen any major upgrades still that feel like they'll matter in my day-to-day life.

A flip would be different...

where from ?

So I don't get this. Yes, my N=1 experience, but: I don't put my phone in a case, and only use a screen protector. I have a Pixel 8 (arguably one of the more notoriously ridiculous camera bumps), but have of course had other phones with camera bumps before this. I am generally careful with my phone, but of course I've dropped it, knocked it off a table onto the floor, etc. But I've never ever scratched the camera. Have I just been lucky, or are they harder to scratch than one would expect?

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If you just want a camera get a mirrorless. They're smaller than DSLRs and easier to adapt lenses to. If you don't care about lenses Fujifilm cameras are probably the most fun to use.

(But if you use it rarely it's better to just rent one, and then you can get a really nice one.)