Are iPhones considered statues symbols in the UK?

williewonder

I was reading on a Reddit post the new iPhone 15 is considered a status symbol in poor countries and people aspire to own them, but for me, it’s just normal having a iPhone 15 like many of my contemporary follow Britains. For poor countries it’s like a whole year of their income to buy one. For me I only have to save for 3 weeks to get one after my monthly expenses.. £800 for a iPhone is half of my monthly income.I don’t even take insurance out if I lose it I’ll break it I just buy a new one. Does this make westerners privileged?

If I travel abroad to India or Sri Lanka or Pakistan would they consider me to be rich with a iPhone 15 and a target, higher prices. To me having a iPhone is just normal.

MattMattMattUK

williewonder said:

I was reading on a Reddit post the new iPhone 15 is considered a status symbol in poor countries and people aspire to own them, but for me, it’s just normal having a iPhone 15 like many of my contemporary follow Britains. For poor countries it’s like a whole year of their income to buy one. For me I only have to save for 3 weeks to get one after my monthly expenses.. £800 for a iPhone is half of my monthly income.I don’t even take insurance out if I lose it I’ll break it I just buy a new one. Does this make westerners privileged?

It does not make Westerners privileged, it is just part of life, income differences between countries, within countries etc. An iPhone is not a status symbol in the West and pretty much never has been, there are some people who think some shiny is a status symbol, but to anyone with either brains, or those with real wealth it is not, although certain lower class groups may consider one so as part of conspicuous consumption.

williewonder said:

If I travel abroad to India or Sri Lanka or Pakistan would they consider me to be rich with a iPhone 15 and a target, higher prices. To me having a iPhone is just normal.

They would likely consider you as a Westerner, does it matter if they see you as "rich" or not though? As for a target no, they will be well aware that stealing an iPhone, or pretty much any other modern phone is pointless, as they are account and activation locked and no use to anyone other than the owner or someone they correctly transfer the phone to. 

brewerdave

williewonder said:

I was reading on a Reddit post the new iPhone 15 is considered a status symbol in poor countries and people aspire to own them, but for me, it’s just normal having a iPhone 15 like many of my contemporary follow Britains. For poor countries it’s like a whole year of their income to buy one. For me I only have to save for 3 weeks to get one after my monthly expenses.. £800 for a iPhone is half of my monthly income.I don’t even take insurance out if I lose it I’ll break it I just buy a new one. Does this make westerners privileged?

I ,along with a lot of other UK citizens, wouldn't dream of buying an iPhone 15 - grossly overpriced  - and IT IS considered a status symbol, particularly amongst the younger population  , like various manufacturers trainers !!

oldernonethewiser

Does it matter?

I use an iPhone cos it isn't an Android phone.  

I don't have nor will I be buying an iPhone 15 as it offers no advantage over my current iPhone.

I seem to recall people thinking they were status symbols back in the days of the iphone 6.

vacheron

I think the latest iPhone could be considered a status symbol, but only by those to whom a £1000 phone is aspirational and therefore not really affordable by the owner and/or their peer group. 

In the Hip-Hop song "Classic", the rapper Nas summed it up well in relation to cars (whips) and money (chips) with the line: 

When they do make the whip you like, your chips ain't right
By the time you can afford it, the car ain't important.

As people get older they start to realise that the wealthiest people they may meet will often be the ones driving the oldest cars and phones because they consider items objectively in relation to the value they offer them, not how it may make them look to others as they are old and wise enough to see through all the marketing hype. 

Instead they keep their wealth wisely invested and preserved (see the quote in my signature), while the ones driving the flash cars with the latest phones and fashons are often the ones with barely a penny in the bank as everything they own is for show and generally bought on credit.

I have used iPhones since 2010 purely because they have been utterly reliable and trouble free and do everything I want.

I currenty have an iphone 10 which I paid £320 for about 4 years ago due to a website glitch and which I still use it today because it still meets my original criteria.

eDicky

Others might be impressed, but I wouldn't even recognise one unless it had 'iPhone 15' displayed prominently somehow. (Maybe it has..?)

oldagetraveller1

It's a bit like most Apple products and those who pay the inflated prices. How does one know if someone has an Apple product?

Simple answer, they will most certainly make everyone aware of it, either verbally or visibly.

DullGreyGuy

williewonder said:

I was reading on a Reddit post the new iPhone 15 is considered a status symbol in poor countries and people aspire to own them, but for me, it’s just normal having a iPhone 15 like many of my contemporary follow Britains. For poor countries it’s like a whole year of their income to buy one. For me I only have to save for 3 weeks to get one after my monthly expenses.. £800 for a iPhone is half of my monthly income.I don’t even take insurance out if I lose it I’ll break it I just buy a new one. Does this make westerners privileged?

If I travel abroad to India or Sri Lanka or Pakistan would they consider me to be rich with a iPhone 15 and a target, higher prices. To me having a iPhone is just normal.

There is a reason why there is a new colour each year and almost every year the new colour is the first to sell out... there are people who believe its a status symbol and by having this years colour its easier for others to recognise which you have. It's similar to why the Pro and non-Pro have different finishes.

Whilst you say an iPhone is easily affordable for you and to replace it not a problem there are plenty of others who live here that would struggle to find £800 to spend on a mobile. Clearly a vastly larger proportion in other countries would struggle. 


 its no more of a status symbol than owning a £800 Samsung phone, the only difference is that Apple only sell higher priced/speced devices whereas Samsung sell budget/basic phones all the way up to ones broadly similar to Apple in price.

oldagetraveller1 said:

It's a bit like most Apple products and those who pay the inflated prices. How does one know if someone has an Apple product?

Simple answer, they will most certainly make everyone aware of it, either verbally or visibly.

No more or less than any other brand... bit hard to take a phone call without the phone being visible and most phones you can identify the brand by seeing the back of it. The only time I recall anyone mentioning they have an apple device is when telling them they need to use certain website/app and the person reasonably asking if it works with iOS/MacOS. 

oldernonethewiser said:

I don't have nor will I be buying an iPhone 15 as it offers no advantage over my current iPhone.

So if your phone was stolen tomorrow you'd buy? Or if it was stolen in 4 years time? Not sure what you've particularly got against the 15 that you say you'll never buy it. 

Murmansk

Probably unreasonable, but I tend to think that iPhone owners have more money than sense - I've never felt the need to spend more than £250 on a new Android phone. I'm sure there are plenty of people using older models of iPhone which are fairly cheap and there are some models of Samsung phone on Android that cost as much as a top end iPhone so spending a lot on a phone is not unique to Apple fans

oldernonethewiser

oldagetraveller1 said:

It's a bit like most Apple products and those who pay the inflated prices. How does one know if someone has an Apple product?

Simple answer, they will most certainly make everyone aware of it, either verbally or visibly.

Never experienced that personally.

I don't care what phone anyone else owns or uses.

Apple want your money - Google want your soul

ididgetwhereiamtoday

I don’t Iike the radio adverts “You’ll fall in love with the new iPhone 15 pro”. 

No I won’t, in fact this sort of advert puts me right off. I am definitely getting android next time.