I know many people who complain about migrants “faking their conditions” or “getting bribed by biden” because they have a smartphone which they can only imagine is an iPhone. Like if you don’t have have a polka dot sack tied to a stick and wearing plastic bottle sandals and using Nokia flip phones, you’re not struggling. But funny enough, if you live inside your car that’s fully licensed and registered, then they’re unable to make the connection that the person is not so far from our own financial situation.
I had to sit there and explain to them the concept of prepaid phones and how there are a billion android phones available with 3 cameras, face unlock, capable of shitty mobile games, and so on starting from $5 to $300. Not everything is a $1000 iPhone 20 XL. And despite this, their final thoughts are “ok, but still the democrats are bribing them.” 
iPhones are unironically like diamonds. The materials are mined out by capitalist cartels in overexploited African nations, the manufacturing process is all kept secret and people buy them as status symbols even though they cost like half the average rent. Then not even a year later, they're worth less than half of their original value and settler society repeats the process all over again.
A lot of carriers will let you trade in your old phone for the latest one though. So it’s not always expensive to get a new phone. The depreciation is also one reason why people rush to trade so they don’t have to waste $1500 in 7 years because their phone is worth $40
Reactionaries are so keen to cry about cummnists taking your toothbrush or how “you will not own anything and being happy”, yet car dealerships and phone companies release a “new” model each year and encourage people to turn in their property to start/continue renting the new shiny toy for 12 months.
So, I see this comment a lot, but am always a little confused. Are other phone manufacturers not doing those same things? Is there solid evidence that Google, Samsung, or the 1,000s of random Chinese offerings are better in that regard? Why call out iPhones when all smartphones use essentially the same materials and will inevitably be e-waste in less than a decade?
many other manufacturers are cheaper and have much less pretense/cloak and dagger bullshit around the manufacturing and parts sourcing than apple, but they're certainly still ewaste in a few years yeah, if anything some are worse on the ewaste front than apple (though the gap is shrinking IMO)
It also depends on the culture though. Japan still values analog technology, and even their fashion trends are slow to change, because they prefer immersion into something
Also, I’m a tech nerd so when I do replace my phone every 2-4 years, I usually get the top model because I know I’ll use the hardware to its fullest.
That said, I also justify this because my $1,500 phone has replaced my $200-400 phone, my $300 iPod, my $500 digital camera, my $200 palm pilot, my $200 GPS, my $100 pc scanner, and for some instances, my $1000 laptop and $400 tablet.
So yes , top end devices are very expensive, my for me, it’s actually saved me from buying so many devices like I had to in the early 2000’s
ain't no way any phone is replacing a digital camera.
Depends on the kinds of pictures you need it to take. For non-photographers smartphones definitely killed off demand for low-end Standalone cameras.
A modern flagship phone can definitely replace a digital camera
Almost every digital camera has a decent optical zoom. I think phones have at most 3x (ok supposedly some phones have "10x" but I'm not sure I buy that). My digital camera from like 10 years ago still takes better pictures than any phone camera I've used.
iPhones hold their value better than any other brand. You can sell them for nearly full price the next year, and a few hundred dollars years later. Samsungs on the other hand…
To be fair, Samsung has realized this and has been offering ridiculous trade-in offers every time the new model goes up for preorder.
Even for a model a few years old you get way more than the used market value, often meaning you only pay $200-$300 for the new equivalent along with “free” wireless earbuds and glass screen protector.
That being said, I only replace my tech when it becomes too slow to function (all my Androids) or when I break it because I’ve been using it for 7 years and shit happens eventually in rough work environments (so, my IPhones).
Apple deserves all the shit talking they get, but there is no denying the fact that all my 5 US flagship androids were effectively obsolete after 2 years due to no OS updates and being too slow to even play a YouTube video.
Meanwhile the iPhones stay perfectly responsive and get full-fat updates for 7 years with relatively cheap first-party battery replacements.