Apple has finally found the solution to iPhone complexity

Everyone is wondering, what is up with the iPhone lineup? Okay, the Macalope hasn’t asked around, but he’s pretty sure everyone is wondering that. Because he, himself, has been wondering that.

The iPhone lineup is in the process of some pretty big changes. This isn’t the first time it’s happened, of course, but it has been relatively stable for a number of years, albeit with some minor variations. Apple did make a small phone for a couple of years, but mostly you got a base phone lineup, sometimes with a larger size, and a Pro lineup in two sizes.

Now Apple has slid the iPhone Air into the lineup in the place of the least expensive iPhone Pro, in a move that marks the beginning of some fairly major changes over the next year. The company is widely expected to follow up on this next year with a foldable iPhone.

It might be tempting to warn that Apple risks returning to the dark days of the mid-1990s, where it shipped a bewildering number of Macs in various configurations that confused customers and cannibalized its own profit share. “Steve Jobs implemented a simplified product line for a reason!” you say, wagging your finger. Sure, but there are two things wrong with this argument. First, who wags their finger? Who are you, the stuffed shirt father in a Wes Anderson film? Second, it is completely possible to expand your product offering and provide more options without making things confusing.

The iPad lineup provides the perfect object lesson. Until recently, the iPad lineup actually did have a whiff of the ‘90s to it, almost as if you could hear “Two Princes” playing faintly from over a hill. That horrible sound faded, however, when Apple rationalized the lineup last year with one simple trick: raising prices. Raising prices put some distance between the iPad Pro and the iPad Air, making it easier to make a purchasing decision.

While some may complain about Apple no longer offering an iPhone Pro at the $999 price point, they couldn’t without overlapping with the iPhone Air. You could argue the company should be selling the Air at $899, but that’s a different argument that involves tariffs and ASP and margins and wanting Apple to not be Apple. Bottom line is, the lineup does make sense as it currently stands. Likewise, when the company ships a foldable iPhone next year, the price will help make it clear which device is the right one for you.

More SKUs, more choices, but no added complexity.

One thing we’ve been able to rely on for a long time is that Apple’s new lineup would always be announced in the fall, except for a lower-cost phone that might come in the spring if Apple was feeling particularly magnanimous. The unwashed masses would look up at Tim Cook and say, “May we have a cheap phone, Sir?” and Cook would look down and whisper, “No.”, thereby creating the “Watchmen”/“Oliver Twist” crossover that no one knew they wanted because, really, nobody did want that.

IDG

Although now that the Macalope thinks about it, seeing Oliver take on Fagin with a flying owl ship does sound kind of cool.

Those of us who bought a base model iPhone 17 this year may have a longer wait for a replacement next cycle, however, as Apple is expected to make the fall event only for the, well, expensive phones: the iPhone Pro, the iPhone Air, and the foldable iPhone. The base model iPhones won’t be announced until the spring of 2027, possibly with an iPhone 18e.

Unless we find a way to take on Tim Cook with some kind of owl ship. Dang it, now the Macalope can’t stop thinking about it.

We may not like it, but there is a bit of logic to this timing. In the last two cycles, Apple has improved on the base model iPhone, giving it more processing power and improving its price point by keeping the price the same and increasing the storage. Indeed, it seems that the base iPhone is doing pretty well this cycle, which could negatively impact Apple’s margin. Pushing the base model off by six months differentiates the lineup without even changing the specs or price.

For a long time, a big knock on iPhones has been that there’s been very little choice. If you wanted choice in hardware, you had to go to Android. Now Apple is showing that it can provide more choice without having you reminiscing about Must See TV.