Apple introduced the 1000 smartphone last year in the form of the iPhone X. Now since then a few other companies have followed suit, Samsung has released a 1000 galaxy note. Now why are phone prices getting so high? Well if you remember a few years ago phone companies stopped subsidizing phones, and put the cost into the consumers. Cause the original iPhone cost was originally around 200-500 dollars cause AT&T took over that cost.

Cost Compression

I have been getting a lot of questions about these 1000 dollars and if they are worth it. As with all technology it always comes down to the users. As a power user,  I need a powerful phone that can handle the work load I throw at it. I usually have slack, outlook, onenote, iMessage, Jira, twitter, Linkdln , Projects, all opening and running. I for one don’t like slowdown I need speed and great battery life. Why do I have all these apps open you ask? well closing them and reopening them takes a lot more battery power so just keeping them open and ready to go consumes less.

Now why do these phones cost so much? Technology has advanced and people are wanting more and more innovation. And having to compress the technology further is costly. Our phones have greater speeds than most computers from 10 years ago. You are literally carrying a device that can do everything. Augmented reality, 4k video, GPS, a high end screen, water proof, and not to mention now we are getting phones with finger print sensors behind the screen and are nothing but screen with no bezel that in some cases have a 4k screen itself.

You can’t just be a phone anymore…

Now currently I have a iPhone 6s Plus and I keep getting asked if I would ever spend a grand on a smartphone. Well in order for me to do that it would need to be a phone that tells me its worth a grand. Currently the iPhone Xs Max doesn’t fall into that category. If a phone is going to cost more than some laptops and be priced that high then it must be equal to that. When Apple released the iPhone X and put it at a grand I didn’t see the need. When Samsung released the Note and said it has all this power it also released the Samsung DEX. Now what is this? Its the ability to connect to a wireless monitor that allows you to get a desktop type interface. Add a bluetooth wireless keyboard and a traveling person can answer emails in their hotel without a laptop. Even Microsoft was doing it years ago with their HP phone and even their last lumia phone and Huawei even supports desktop screen projection and that phone is 599 dollars!

More and more Android phones are pursuing this desktop type experience. Now would this help me feel easier about having to purchase a phone that costs that much? Why yes it would. If I was able to connect to a screen without needing a laptop and doing some quick programming work with an app I would very well spend that much if it meant I didn’t need to purchase an iPad and I didn’t have to carry my laptop with me ALL THE TIME. Yes I am a power user but what about the regular person? The average joe. Yes this could very well be the cost replacement. I could very well see phones costing a grand on average but imagine not having to purchase a laptop or another tablet and the phone becomes your all in one device.

IN CLOSING

With Apple’s new iPhone Xs max and getting some hands on time I still haven’t felt that apple is fully seeing that pricing a phone that high must bring features that validate a 1000 smartphone. Currently its competitors are easily showing that their phones have the power and the battery and the many features that tells the power users  “If you spend a grand on this phone, you won’t regret it.” Apple will need to rethink their phones in the future if they keep them at a thousand cause saying its an iPhone doesn’t cut it anymore when others do innovation better at the same price.