I disagree that #2 is necessarily smart, Apple is doing it because they have no other choice. They don't have a low end competitor to bring into the market and so their previous high end device has to fill that role.
The needs of a high end consumer 3 years ago is different from the needs of a low end consumer today and different technologies age at different rates. The iPhone 3GS is still using a 65nm processor which means it's using almost twice as much silicon for the same number of transistors as an iPad 2, driving up cost. At the same time, features introduced into later phones like better cameras or the gyroscope would probably be worthwhile even in a low end phone.
Additionally, high end finishings like steel and glass might be attractive to a high end consumer but low end consumers would rather take the cost savings from using plastics.
At the same price point, the iPhone 3GS is not at all competitive hardware wise with modern low end phones. The only reasons they sell so well are because a) They grant exclusive access to the iOS ecosystem which trumps performance issues and b) the modern American way of pricing phones confuses most consumers. If the phones were priced at $649, $549 & $449, a lot more consumers wouldn't find a 30% discount for 2 year old technology that good a deal.
I strongly disagree. A phone which was mind blowing awesome this year will be pretty good next year and for a lot people attractive even after two years because you have decent hardware and the latest software. If you buy an low budget model Android phone, you get the Android version which was released 4 years ago. I think no one would buy an 3 GS at this point if Apple would sell it with iOS 3.
A lot of my friends have a iPhone 3 GS and they are happy with it and see no need to change. It's not the same with Android low-end models.
Please don't get me wrong I don't want to bash Android here but I want to make how smart this decision was / is. People are buying the old hardware ( which was awesome) and getting it with new the software for a good price.
Maybe I should also point out that people have also seen the same product last year and friends using it. Think about it. Would you buy a new phone which just came out as low-end model or would you buy the product from last year for a better price? Apple shows that the second choice wins.
I strongly disagree. I bought a discounted iPhone 3 when the 3gs was first released. Within a year my phone was pretty worthless, because the iOS 4 updates made it so interminably slow that I stopped using it as anything other than a dumb phone (which it was never great at anyway). And, of course, I still had a full year left on a two-year contract at that point, so I was not a happy customer. Maybe the situation is better from the 3gs onward, but it sucked for me.
I have to admit that this is true and it was a very disappointing for the user-base to see that their phone got a unacceptable performance after the update.
However Apple learned from it's lessons and the same thing didn't happen with 3 GS and the iPhone 4S.
My 4s rattled a bit when it was new. I wasn't sure at first if the buttons were responsible for the rattling, or if it was something internal. Then I dropped it a couple of times while spinning it around in my hand to locate the side with the button I wanted to press, and that made it stop rattling for some reason. The front and back glass slabs now slide around a bit, though.
I'm more or less dumbfounded at the popular perception of the iPhone 4 as a "great" industrial design. While it's definitely a great phone, if they don't return to a curved back with the next model or otherwise provide some tactile cues that help the user sense how it's oriented as it's being withdrawn from a pocket, it'll almost be enough to send me over the fence into the Android camp. Failing to move to a bigger screen will certainly do that.
Mine makes a little rattly sound, but it is from the 'bumper' case that it has on it. The contacts on the bumper make that sound for me. When I take the phone out, it is silent when I drop it from a half inch or so (other than the clunk sound the phone itself makes).
Dropping the 'bumper' by itself also induces the rattle sound.
Other than that, I have not heard of any iphone4S rattle sounds. Does yours have a 'bumper' case on it?
The Android clusterfuck is a completely orthogonal issue to whether last year's high end model makes for a good this year's low end model. For $450, it should be perfectly possible to build a faster phone, running current software with a better screen and better battery life than the 3GS.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the 3GS processor is costing Apple more at this point than the 4 processor due to a larger die size and outside licensing fees. Paying more for a worse processor is something that you would never do if you just built a low end phone from scratch.
edit: For example, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-GT-i9250-Smartphone-Touchscree...) is $450, is running Android 4.0, has twice the Mhz, twice the storage, 3x the resolution and 1.6 times the camera megapixels, all for the same price.
While it may be true that the old processor costs Apple more to build than the new models I strongly believe that they didn't want to test the device again.
The device worked as it is and it will work in the next year as it worked so why should we change it? No costs on this side to find.
We can argue about costs and which of them would be higher but either way I think they choose the way which fits Apple best.
Apple wants to mess with new stuff and not with old already gone low-end model phones.
I don't know how non-tech-users see the nexus. I never seen one have it. I don't know why but it seem that the majority was bought by techies compared to a 3 GS which was bought from all kind of people including a lot of females which argue "I don't need the latest stuff".
You're talking as if Apple continues production on the 3GS. Do they really, or do they access old stock? I'm genuinely asking as I don't know - I had assumed they accessed old stock.
They've been selling the 3GS continuously since summer 2009. Of course they're still making new ones. Tim Cook wouldn't have his current job if in his old job he'd accidentally booked years of surplus units.
I just looked at a random "free" android and compared it spec wise to a 3GS and, leaving aside the fact that the Android was on 2.2, the 3GS is ahead on storage and behind on MHz (probably a wash on performance) and camera MP.
I'd say that overall the 3GS looks like a better deal.
Sure, pricing is confusing but that cuts both ways.
The needs of a high end consumer 3 years ago is different from the needs of a low end consumer today and different technologies age at different rates. The iPhone 3GS is still using a 65nm processor which means it's using almost twice as much silicon for the same number of transistors as an iPad 2, driving up cost. At the same time, features introduced into later phones like better cameras or the gyroscope would probably be worthwhile even in a low end phone.
Additionally, high end finishings like steel and glass might be attractive to a high end consumer but low end consumers would rather take the cost savings from using plastics.
At the same price point, the iPhone 3GS is not at all competitive hardware wise with modern low end phones. The only reasons they sell so well are because a) They grant exclusive access to the iOS ecosystem which trumps performance issues and b) the modern American way of pricing phones confuses most consumers. If the phones were priced at $649, $549 & $449, a lot more consumers wouldn't find a 30% discount for 2 year old technology that good a deal.