Why do iphone users still see their phones as a status symbol
9mon 14d ago by sh.itjust.works/u/kingpepe8006 in asklemmy
Especially teens and college students
Source: i'm a college student
Kids are like that. Most adults don’t care.
Bullshit. Adults absolutely care. It's human nature to try to project your status in the social hierarchy. That takes different forms and may instead be projecting status with a Stanley flask or Canada Goose jacket, or whatever.
Most adults don’t use their iphones as status symbols. Look at 10 random adults iphones and over 9 of them will be damaged.
I’ve managed iphones for hundreds of people and only encountered a few that care at all.
BlackBerry holdovers would be a different discussion though.
Those aren't adults. Those are geriatric children.
Soooo, adults?
Don't pretend we've ever been better than that as a species. The exact form it takes changes (who does ermine fur anymore?) but the idea stays the same.
Don't pretend we've ever been better than that as a species.
Will you make the argument that people who refuse to follow such fashion trends are somehow inhuman?
If you are unwilling to make such an argument, I will not accept your premise that this is a trait of the "species".
What you (and the parent comment) are describing is a characteristic of certain childish behaviors, philosophies and cultures.
The sophomoric behavior of these geriatric children is not an indictment of humanity in general.
More like, most common allele within the species.
What's the culture where people don't covet meaningless status symbols? Even hunter gatherer cultures have generated examples, and they can't own much more than they can carry.
What's the culture where people don't covet meaningless status symbols?
While there are numerous examples of such philosophies and cultures around the globe, I don't actually need to identify such a culture to demonstrate my point.
If one can remain human without engaging in this behavior, this behavior is not a characteristic of the human condition.
The question before you is whether the members of such a hypothetical culture are inhuman specifically because they do not engage in that covetous behavior.
The abhorrent behaviors being described are conditions of ideas held by certain members of the species. The species is not lessened by the rejection of such ideas. The "certain members" are lessened by their adherence to those ideas.
That's an interesting way of looking at it. Don't you think there's a human nature that's not strictly learned? It seems to me that history repeats way more than it should if we were that good at changing.
Like, obviously, there's variance at the individual level, but it seems like the population as a whole has striking similarities, regardless of where you travel or what era in history you're reading about.
While there are numerous examples of such philosophies and cultures around the globe
Dovetailing into that, a philosophy is not a culture. Philosophies at best sightly influence cultures, as actually practiced, and even that is overblown. Since this is Lemmy, I'll use the example of how well Western Christians follow teachings about not being greedy or whatever. Other cultures have similar facets.
I use "philosophy" to mean one's individual, personal relationship with reality: how they choose to interact with the world around them. I understand this is a somewhat atypical use. There is probably a better word for that concept. It eludes me at this time.
As I used the term, "Christian teachings" (etc.) would only qualify as a philosophy if the individual actually adheres to those tenets. If not, those teachings are just a work of fiction.
There certainly are "striking similarities" throughout the the populace and time. My point is that we don't need to accept, excuse, explain, or tolerate those widespread behaviors simply because they are widespread. As I see it, "Human nature" is a slightly more egalitarian synonym for "boys will be boys".
I'm not saying this is okay either, but it's the way the world is, isn't it? Humanity isn't doing a great job overall, at least in an absolute sense, and part of that is that adults absolutely do buy stupid status symbols to flex on each other.
I think explaining is a very worthy pursuit. As for tolerating, I'm not actually in charge, so I don't have a choice!
and part of that is that adults absolutely do buy stupid status symbols to flex on each other.
Exactly. And when they do, we don't say "Well, that's just what humanity does".
We say "Despise these covetous pricks".
I don't really see what that would help. I'd be angry all the time, and I'd seem like a judgemental prick to a lot of other people.
If I had an opportunity to cure people of wanting to do this, I would. When I have an opportunity to tactfully point it out, and that it's irrational, I do. Otherwise, everyone I've ever met is part of one problem or another.
"Adults".
I may consider "many adults"... I still get grief about it from older adults (I'm talking people in their 40's and older). Though either of us could be correct.
These are people who can't be bothered with how things work, but... are amazing at what they do. So it's an interesting circumstance to observe, and I haven't come to any strong conclusions.
Those adults might still be children.
Ah, no true scottsman adult, then.
I disagree, kids are taught by adults, so whatever they are learning its from their teachers and families. In my experience I have seen more adults give a status symbols to Apple products than children.
It is still cliqueish even if they don't do it intentionally when you have things like they assume you have apple things like the iPhone charger( deprecated now) or airdrop.
.. is there ever any logic to what people think are status symbols?
My labubu bandolier says there is.
labubu
What the hell is that? Are beanie babies popular again?
Pretty much, yeah.
They’re like cutesyfied Monchichi
cost is an easy reason/ barrier. but there's others like membership and other exclusivity options being offered out there.
That is how they market their products.
And those demographics are very susceptible to marketing and peer pressure. The chat bubble colors are designed to make you think of alternative phone users as outcasts. Used to be the same with photos and videos in MMS.
By your late 20s most people don't give a shit about being labeled outcast, but by then you're locked into their ecosystem.
This is definitely one reason for their design, and Apple is shit for that, but the primary reason and the one that many iphone haters miss or trivialize is that SMS/MMS are absolutely fucking trash. There has to be a distinction because if you’re using imessage and relying on all your messages being e2e encrypted and your photos/videos not being compressed to shit, it’s important to get a blatant visual indicator when that’s not actually the case.
I’m not trying to downplay apple’s bullshit social engineering about this, that really is fucked up, but this gets misconstrued all the time as irrational users being upset by green bubbles when to (many of) those users it’s actually a huge downgrade in security and functionality that they’re reacting to.
Behold: a blatant visual indicator
Yeah exactly what I mean, any good UI will have to distinguish between things that are actually different in relevant ways. I’m less of a fan of this UI personally, cuz if both are using sms for a bit you probably lose your visual reminder of the difference, but people focusing on the visual indicator existing at all are missing the point imo.
I see my deGoogled Android device as a higher status symbol than any overpriced stock Apple device.
Only poor people think a phone is a sign of wealth
As a person with a nice income, an iPhone is a device that‘ll get security updates for 5-6 years. Meaning that I can just put away 30 bucks a month and get the replacement immediately. On Android I had to get a new one every 2-3 years to get consistent security updates. I switched to an iPhone X when it came out, now I have a 14 Pro and don’t to plan to get a new one anytime soon.
What? Samsung guarantees 7 years of security updates for most phones. Google does the same.
That's relatively new, they probably haven't looked in a while.
Since when do they do this? I switched in 2017 and back then 3 years was a luxury.
I think this comment highlights just why people still think iPhones are a status symbol. They don't know any better or even anything of the market but they are sure confident about it.
IPhone will get 5-6 years of updates, but Android phones from Google, Samsung, and some others will get 7 6 years. Somehow that means the iPhone is better?
What next, they will claim that iPhone is private and Apple doesn't spy on everything they do to sell them ads? Something that if they read Apple's privacy policy quickly would find out is also wrong. Or then claim it is somehow more private that Android which can actually block most of the adware spying with apps like DuckDuckGo which are officially on the Play Store?
The user had outdated information regarding the security updates. That was true around 2015, but in 2025 its not the case anymore, they just never got updated on the new info because they already jumped ship to Apple.
Wont mean the phone will make it tell then with the original battery :(
I recently got a Pixel 9, really hoping it will last the full 7 years
Samsung gives 7 years. Google gives 7 years as well. Your information is outdated.
It certainly is. The fold 2 released in late 2020 and that was when I stopped caring about tech and more about people not fucking up ther phone by sheer dumbness.
Tribalism didn't end when civilization started. Anyone not in the tribe is lesser, because the alternative would mean your tribe is lesser.
More specific to an iPhone, if you have one, you can do all the social iPhone things like FaceTime. Don't have one? You can't FaceTime, so there is a social friction or impediment to socializing. Then there is the "othering" of the green bubble and blue bubble thing. You can't share photos or videos the same if you don't have an iPhone. Since we are in a digital age and less physically present, not being able to digitally socialize the same way also inhibits socialization.
All of this is by design. Apple intentionally creates an ecosystem that will excert social pressure on people to buy their products so they can be part of the group like their friends.
I remember a friend of mine whining about how my text bubble was a different color and it "made it weird" to text because of that.
By then I was already super over the whole tribalistic iphone/android bs from people I know when it wasn't being meme'd on, so I just told her "you can either get over it, or we can stop talking and being friends"
Wouldn't you know it, the color of a text bubble isn't enough to end a friendship over.
Because they paid a lot of money for them and they need to convince themselves that it was worth the cost.
Wait people really give a shit? Never seen or heard about that
Source: I’m also a college student
It used to be much worse. I remember being excluded from group chats in high school because of the color of the chat bubble for android was different or some shit lol
You weren’t ousted because of the colour, that’s ridiculous. You were ousted because your phone didn’t support group chats with iPhones. Obviously still an Apple issue but it’s pretty stupid to claim it was because of the colour.
Some people really got to get a personality outside of the shit they own
Her iPhone is a status symbol to my wife. Filipinos are kinda weird about brand names as symbols, like they're living in the 80s.
Nope - no one gives a shit what phone you have. Maybe I’m just old but I haven’t heard this from literally anyone or anywhere.
I see it frequently on tinder where women say to not bother when you don't own an iphone/ no android/ at least iphone xx
Cheapest iPhone is $600, cheapest android phone can go as low as $20 (like those walmart prepaid phones locked to a carrier).
When the average person think of android, instead of thinking about a flagship samsung phone, they think of the lowest budget phone.
So in their mind, if you have android, you're automatically categorized as "poor"/"cheap", regardless how much it actually costs.
I‘m the tech guy most people ask for help. If they want a new phone, my first question is for how long it should last and what their price range is - then I mostly suggest an iPhone. You get 5-6 years of support for $600, while Android you need to pay that every 1-2 years.
I‘m the tech guy most people ask for help. If they want a new phone, my first question is for how long it should last and what their price range is - then I mostly suggest an iPhone. You get 5-6 years of support for $600, while Android you need to pay that every 1-2 years.
Incorrect. A Samsung Galaxy A16 (USD $200) has 6 years of security updates.
Since when does Samsung do that? I switched back in 2017 and haven’t been interested in the mobile phone market since the Galaxy fold 2
The Galaxy A12 was released in 2020, it had 4 years of updates, Galaxy A15 released in 2023, had 5 years of updates, Galaxy A16 released in late 2024 (for the US, it was early 2025), now has 6 years of updates. S-Series phones (most of those cost $550 and above) have 7 years of updates)
It's just security updates tho, new features are not guaranteed for budget phones (like no "AI" features for A-series phones, but then again, its just more marketing gimmics anyways, who really uses those?), but its secure enough for banking.
The people who come to me only care about their pictures. It is I who has to make sure that those who click on every link they receive and open everything attached are unable to fuck something up.
Every TWO years, as a best-case scenario?! What parallel universe do you live in
I don't think I've owned a phone for fewer than three years. That was an Apple device at work and it had dead touchscreen pixels for half the time, a bad battery from day one, and software bugs galore (couldn't reset an app, for example. It kept b0rked data between reinstalls and it's not like there's a way to go into the filesystem and actually delete it yourself, so I just couldn't use the app at all and only had the work calendar on my laptop. Very convenient at events. "It just works" they say, but if it ever doesn't, you're screwed)
Uh, I don’t. It’s just a phone I use. That’s it.
Teenagers and students are just that; teenagers and students. Very often they care about ‘status symbol’ but also sometimes they don’t care.
I would recommend to stop generalizing.
Some people need to justify their choice to overspend on something...
It's expensive
Cuz they're overpriced? More money = More "exclusive."
Nobody will actually mind if you brag about how you bought a new phone. Also if you are not a rich person you having an expensive phone means you did something smart to "cheat the system."
As an example I had an old coworker when I used to work at a warehouse and he would combo things like service provider sales to buy an iphone.
He did sound smart when explaining the roundabout way he got the phone despite making same money as us. And I don't mind what other people chose to spend money on.
What I do mind is college students thinking macbooks are some "programmers' laptops."
I had to constantly hand-hold group members that think they can get away with not learning how to code and using AI for all the homeworks because they bought a mac and that makes them a good programmer anyway.
"But I thought the program should automatically wait for the threads on this line since it's POSIX."
Yes I love troubleshooting professor's makefile for an OS I don't have because you never learned your own laptop has a symlink from gcc to clang.
It’s not the phone, it’s your age bracket. You can say the same thing for other stuff like shoes/clothes, cars, etc. It’s peer/societal pressure, FOMO, and other factors that teenagers and young adults feel are important. People care less when they get older. My iphone is a utility device to me, and I’ll keep using it until it dies or security updates stop, instead of upgrading every year.
Once something becomes statusy, is seems pretty rare that it ever stops. You can't outcompete Apple at being Apple, and to stay exclusive they can just keep prices up.
It genuinely was revolutionary when it came out. I guess they managed to leverage that into being a luxury brand, when no further world-breaking innovations were forthcoming. The only thing those really have to worry about is staying relevant, as opposed to going the way of fine china and monocles.
They don't. You do.
It’s just a phone? I’d have an android or fairphone if my job didn’t have apple devices and apps I use all the time. Just makes sense to not need two sets of a lot of things.
explain how the people who always have the newest iPhone and show it off to all their friends DONT think it's a status symbol
better yet explain how, I, the person with a several year old android phone who HATES apple considers an iphone more important than they do
Why do you think they do? That’s not a thing in reality. That said, I don’t chat about mobile phones with a lot of college students at this point.
This is the real reason. The iphone was the original tablet-like smart phone and it was marketed as a premium offering and as a result has always enjoyed that status.
Android was second to market and a competitor to the iphone. Because every manufacturer wanted to make a tablet-like phone, they copied the iphone's style and made hundreds of shitty knockoffs over the years that effectively bolstered the iphone's premium status. Yes there are flagship android phones made by Samsung and LG that cost more than the most expensive iphone - but they are loaded with bloatware and bootlocked so you dont get updates and is held back by garbage so it works like shit in only a few years. So even the premium options are shit. The google pixels are good hardware but they're made by a company that makes every one of their trillions of pennies by spying on you.
android phones made by Samsung and LG
Because they're teens
I don’t. I just use the phone because it works well with my laptop. My previous one was all banged up and scratched, so I wouldn’t really call it a status symbol.
I don’t really care about status though. My friends are a bunch of misfits. If it bothers you that people are using something as a status symbol, perhaps you’re more concerned about status than you realize. I’d love to just advise you to stop caring about that but it’s not that easy. Status seeking is a pretty common, normal behaviour.
As a grown adult, I don’t care what people think about phone brands or multi billion/trillion companies when compared with more of the same. But it’s like sports teams. It doesn’t mean much but it can be fun with friendly rivalries. People who take it seriously though? Not to be taken serious.
I use one because I value privacy. I also have an Android phone from 2019 I like more for a few reasons. I like both. I also like both Xbox and Nintendo. And I don’t hate PlayStation. I don’t use Windows, I use Macs, but at work I’m unofficial IT, people come to the Mac user for help with Windows 10/11 because I know that too, it’s just not what I use at home. I still have like 30 years of experience with Windows. I also have a favorite (gridiron) football team. And I’ll tell you why they suck but I’ll never stop rooting for them. (Don’t have a favorite (association) football club.)
I think tribalism is for people who use things to identify themselves. When you stop doing that, tribalism starts to look dumb.
I see mine for what it is. A phone. And a serious threat to my privacy. (I'm well into my 50s, if this matters)
If you're looking for privacy, I highly recommend (weirdly enough) a Google Pixel. With GrapheneOS it's way more secure and private than basically anything else on the market.
Thx (a lot) for the suggestion.
I've been considering what will be my next phone so, yeah, I've toyed with this idea. But I'm also averse to renewing my devices needlessly (reducing my e-waste production). I kept my last iPhone 8 years or so and only changed it because I broke it and it was way too much to have it fixed. So, when comes time to renew this one I'm not sure Google will still allow Android users to change their OS for a more privacy respecting one, but if it still allow it, it's most probably what I will do :)
I second this. Been using a Pixel with GOS for 3 years now.
Some Iphone users behave as if they're in a cult. Worse, Apple treats customers without Iphones/Macs as inferior to their golden children even while selling services that don't require Apple hardware.
I subscribed to Apple TV+ and dealing with the company was infuriating. Every single support rep instructed me to do something to solve a problem using my Iphone or Mac. The last straw was when I wanted to add another profile to my account and was told the company has made it impossible without Apple hardware. The rep actually told me to find someone with an Iphone to help. I cancelled Apple TV+ instead.
One member of the Iphone cult I know was going on and on about a problem she was having receiving calls. When I mentioned a relatively minor problem with my phone her immediate response was "That's because you have Android." It was comical.
People shallow enough to believe they're superior because they own an Iphone aren't worth being around anyway.
Apple tells them to.
How does that telling happen, actually?
Companies pay groups to run marketing campaigns that push the idea that their product is missing from your life. Exact methods vary but it's often in the form of video and printed advertising. Sometimes you'll see celebrity endorsements or conspicuous product placement in TV/movies. Whatever the people-nerds think will convince the general public to buy.
Marketing.
Go back to the Apple/PC ads in the 90's,where the Apple guy was hip, and the PC guy was an old fuddy-duddy in a brown suit.
Apple has always traded on the slickness of their products. They often claim to be the "first" at something, when they really just developed the first seriously marketable version.
iPhone wasn't the first smartphone by years. Just the first one that was slick enough for consumers to bite on, when a year before it was geeky to have such a device.
Their entire premise is "Are you too stupid to work a computer? Now you can do computer things without being a nerd!"
Marketing.
Duh.
But what does that marketing include?
This 39-year-old north-European doesn't seem to get reached by Apple's marketing at all.
Simulated intellect. The same way that big, fake boobs sell products to a particular demographic, so do fake, big brains appeal to another.
If there was another decent mobile phone, the same size as the SE, I would seriously consider it.
ASUS Zenfone 10
Can't unlock bootloader :(
Otherwise I'd be typing this comment on one right now. It's the only otherwise-perfect device that I could find earlier this year. Why did they go out of their way to modify AOSP and lock everyone out of their own device...
Oh wow. That's unfortunate. It's an enthusiast phone. It's a requirement.
My daughter wanted an iPhone when she was in high school because her friends played the arcade games together on it. That was the only reason she wanted it.
They bought it specifically for that purpose.
Can't be any other purpose in my personal opinion. Android is better, to me.
Not a youngster, but I would say because it’s a simple choice. Don’t have to think which brand sporting Android is better and definitely don’t have to worry about what custom ROM to install. Troubleshooting between different models can be a pain. People just want something that works out of the box without having to be an expert.
1 choice (mainly) vs (too) many choices.
I used Android since they first came out and not once did I ever needed to worry about a custom ROM.
Let's be real and just say that Apple is doing anticompetitive things and not getting in trouble in the US yet.
I can't think of a single mainstream android phone manufactuer that requires any expertise setting up their phone out of the box (for doing anything an iPhone can do).
You then have the option to install 3rd party software or a custom ROM but that is not required, just a bonus that isn't available to Apple users.
I mean, don't you just log into an account these days and it's all there?
Certainly no more complicated than setting up an iPhone.
they haven't outgrown being incredibly stupid and some never will.
That’s why I make sure mine is old and cracked, dented, and scuffed to shit to make sure no one makes that mistake.
The only reason I have an iPhone is because our car only has Apple CarPlay installed (or whatever it's called). I can never go back to mounting my phone on the dash and using the tiny phone screen for maps and music.
Hey internet brother. Don't get locked in like that. There are USB devices that turns your car display into a full blown Android that is extremely customizable.
Example...??
I'm using ApplePie Rocket but I think that might only be available in Asia.
It's is another one I found on Amazon. https://a.co/d/8Hpyvvf
Ty, I'll investigate. Luckily the sound issue I had with my music was a silly, yet, simple fix. Right now everything's working via USB.
Ya, the carplay Android systems are pretty awesome. I watch YouTube music and have a full android experience.
I don’t see it as a status symbol. Hate is a strong word… I could describe the process I go through just to save a jpeg, but I don’t have the patience. It’s simply the cheapest phone that I consider secure.
I'm a college student and I don't feel this way at all. Maybe you'll get some quick jokes about being a poor Android user sometimes but it's mostly playful.
I convinced my college friend to try out Android and he likes his moto flip fold phone now.
Apple has cleverly made their phones a luxury symbol. In 2014, Apple hired the CEO of Burberry, Angela Ahrendts to be their Vice President. I believe this was the period when their Apple stores got a huge revamp to look all clean and minimalistic.
But in general, I don't think anybody really gives a shit. Even less so the ones ones who actually know about technology.
Android users do this as well, they just normally have to squabble with Apple users rather than feel they can punch down on someone else. I don't have a smartphone. But unlike them my phone is cheap to replace if it sinks while kayaking.
I also don't like iOS or Android
okay but then you just need to carry a separate mobile computation device
Why?
For mobile computation!!
I have never ever ever encountered a single person who treated their iPhone as a status symbol.
That's nuts, you've never heard anyone tease about green chat bubbles? Never heard the joke "I don't talk to poor people"? Didn't see all that stuff blow up extra when the air pods came out?
you definitely have, they probably just didn't mention it to you specifically