[Roboprog]

I like iOS, but I won’t buy their flagship hardware. It’s too expensive for something so fragile.

I have 3 iOS devices, but I won’t pay a grand for a phone. I would rather replace my base level devices in 4 or 5 years when they start to age out.

[vmception]

And for the opposite perspective:

I love buying their flagship hardware because next year's flagship hardware won't be expensive after I trade mine in for 70-80% of the next device's cost.

This 3rd party repair fiasco just corrals people to AppleCare+ which I also enjoy.

In one experience, I did not consider upgrading my iphone as the yearly increments are not impressive, but my current iphone needed some repair. At the Apple Store in person, myself and the specialist noticed that due to needing repair it would not be eligible for trade-up, but was eligible for complete replacement capable of doing in person on the spot with full data transfer on the spot, and the complete replacement was eligible for trade-up on the spot, so I wound up with the new iphone. (note, I don't remember what I had to pay if anything, and it is possible that I upgraded to a phone with lowered storage space or something which made my trade-in of a more premium model cover the whole cost, that year)

to sum up: because I paid full price and for first party support, I got a free replacement device and a free next gen device. Maybe there was a downpayment somewhere in there I don't really know. In that circumstance I came out ahead.

Mathematically, I don't consider myself coming out ahead compared to the FIRE penny pinchers and frugal people, as obviously even if I pay $200-$300 a year then its more than what the people buying 3-4 year old phones are paying once every 5 years. But I'm not in a contest against the luddite compromises they make. I am glad that I have the convenience of never needing to consider the device "too expensive and fragile" and that complete upgrades never have a sticker shock because what I would have to pay is typically 80% lower in cost.