Back in April of last year, when a luxury model of the Apple Watch was still a vague rumor, I wrote an opinion piece in which I expressed the view that Apple could indeed pull this off. I went further, and suggested that it could even create an entire range of luxury versions of its existing products, from iPhones to Macs.
Ten months on, with the Apple Watch Edition now real, and the general expectation that it’s going to cost several thousand dollars at least, I thought it was time to revisit that idea. Is a luxury model of the Apple Watch a one-off, or does Apple see this as the first step toward Edition models of its complete product range … ?
I should state very clearly at the outset that I’m not sure that gold is the right route for a luxury iPhone, and I’m certain it’s not for an iPad or Mac. While gold can look tasteful on small things like watches, it very quickly starts to look tacky if you scale it up. There are gold-plated iPhones out there, and to my mind they look a little too reminiscent of a gold ingot to pass the taste test.
It’s the reason I think Apple was very careful to choose a rather muted shade of gold for its existing range of iPhones. Scale real gold up to an iPad or MacBook, and … no. Just no. (I’m not even personally convinced about the iPhone-style gold color on a Mac.)
And Apple obviously isn’t going to do anything as unbelievably crass as embedding diamonds into its products. But I could see brushed platinum as possibility.
A brushed platinum line of iPhones, iPads and MacBooks could look tasteful, understated and yet be sufficiently visibly different to the standard models to satisfy the needs of those who care to display their wealth.
I’ve long thought it slightly odd that Apple has never done this. There’s a luxury market out there, and you can be pretty confident that when it comes to technology, most of it buys Apple kit. By failing to offer a luxury range, Apple is leaving money on the table.
Sure, you can spec up your iDevices, and Apple will charge you a handsome premium for the privilege–especially on MacBooks. But the luxury market isn’t, in the main, about specs: it’s about style and materials. Apple has the style already, and of course opted for glass and metal over plastic, but prior to the Apple Watch there were no luxury materials on offer.
I could see a couple of arguments against a luxury range. First, while Apple has unashamedly targeted a premium market, it has stopped short of being seen as elitist. Especially since the banking crisis, being associated with the 1% isn’t great PR for a company. But so long as you can still buy the standard models, I don’t think anyone is going to be bothered by the fact that there’s a much more expensive casing available.
The second opposing argument is that, unlike jewellery and traditional watches, which you might keep for a lifetime and even pass on to future generations, your iDevice is going to be outdated a year or two down the line. This is the reason some have speculated that the Apple Watch Edition might be upgradeable, allowing you to swap out the innards when next year’s tech comes along.
That’s possible. But I suspect not, for the simple reason that I don’t think Apple needs to do it. As John Gruber put it, the Apple Watch Edition is targeted at “people who don’t care” that their $X,000 purchase will need to be replaced a year or two down the line. I agree, so don’t think that argument applies either.
So: there’s no reason Apple couldn’t go down the luxury model route; the Apple Watch Edition demonstrates a willingness to do so; and there’s money there for the taking if it does the same thing with iPhones, iPads and Macs. I’m seeing Edition models of the complete range of Apple products as a real possibility.
What about you? Take our poll, and–as ever–let us know your views in the comments.
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I think if it is a smashing hit maybe.
Overall though a watch is typically more of a status symbol than your computer or phone so it seems silly to me that many would want to pay extra for blinged out phones and laptops, but I could be wrong.
I could see people many in the hip hop culture with a blinged out phone.
In my opinion, yellow gold is tacky. I wouldn’t purchase any Apple product in gold regardless of the price or how wealthy I was.
Good sales figures might hint at it, but real gold brick iPhones and laptops are for idiots with more money than sense. They’re not connected to the majority’s version of reality enough to know it looks stupid.
This is a very good question. I answered “Possible but unlikely”
I wouldn’t be too surprised if other companies begin moving in on the space, though, and start to offer modifications to Apple’s stock equipment. We see it now on a low-scale, but I bet there will be a boom in that market soon.
Given Apples design for lighter devices I cant see them being built from a heavy metal. Gold is way heavier than aluminum.
Watch is worn is for fashion is for status symbol. How does that translate to computers? Simplicity is best for the other things. The watch needs to be personal, the others don’t. If there were an Edition model it would strictly have better features, more expensive parts, or better material which make a difference, like sapphire.
I think there will be 3 models for the Car though. Akin to the watch, there’d be a relatively cheap model, middle tier, and a luxury model akin to a Ferrari.
No. Those aren’t wearables. They’re not really fashion items. Don’t see it happening.
The iPhone that folks frequently put on the table in front of them almost every time they sit down at a meeting, bar or in a club is definitely a fashion item on one level. It is more visible than a watch. I can totally see Apple doing a platinum version of that. The other items would sell but not at a level to justify the public ridicule of Apple selling them.
I think that has more to do with seeing notifications without pulling out and returning the phone to the pocket multiple times in each sitting, not showing off.
I’d guess they won’t. Simply because of the scale and weight/cost of the material. Perhaps they’ll find a way to work in new materials to a part of the larger devices, however using that much gold or platinum will make the cost exorbitant and I can’t see them offering high-five figure laptops or even mid-five figure iPhones. That’s ignoring the structural properties of those metals too. They work well on small dense objects like rings and watches but I doubt they’ll be any good when it comes to larger things like laptops and phones. Maybe they’ll do plating instead but I just can’t see this going any further than the watch for at least a long time.
Personally – I buy Apple products because – (1) The design of the products. (2) The materials they use; not for form but function. (3) I embrace the philosophy that the Apple products are designed under. (4) They Just Work!
I do NOT buy Apple products because I feel the need to show them off or supplement my ego.
That’s just me – YMMV.
89 – What do you buy to show off or supplement your ego? If the answer to that is basically nothing, then you aren’t a target customer for luxury items. However you must be aware that luxury items at ridiculous prices are sold all over the world all the time. The market does exist and it caters to a group of people with a ton of money.
Just because a market exists, doesn’t mean you have to serve it, not that it’s a good thing that it exists, or a good thing that you serve it.
Your just dropping a Capitalist euphemism without thinking. The question of the article is, is this *Apple’s* market? Is this a “good” market? Is it a market that we should cater to? Things like that.
You can’t just cut off morality, culture, etc. and reduce things to merely financial equations. That’s insanity.
Increasing the theft risk for the iPhone by offering some premium enclosure is a questionable step, but could be a special order to test the market. But might be some flak for common iPhone users who could feel their phone is at greater risk for theft. For laptops and tablets, a premium enclosure would be seen by most as embarrassingly ostentatious. As for the Apple watch, I think some sort of upgrade/repair/maintenance path is important. Even a $50 digital sport watch will get through a quite a few battery changes before corrosion or wear renders it fairly useless. Since Apple is offering quite a few options for upscale bands, one would think there will be options for keeping the module updated/repaired.
I would rather pay an exorbitant amount to have an iPhone made out of liquid metal (which actually has sensible reasons behind it’s expensiveness), than gold for sure. It would be way expensive, but it would actually be not only really cool looking, it would be a better phone and never scratch etc.
Even if I was a Prince of Saudi Arabia I wouldn’t buy a gold anything. It’s just plain tacky. It serves no purpose, it doesn’t enhance the phone in any way, and it doesn’t make it look better IMO. The only reason for a gold phone is what used to be called “ostentation” or “conspicuous consumption.” Both of which are actually BAD things.
Platinum is in the same ballpark as Liquid metal to me and might be a good choice but I wouldn’t pay extra for it.
I would actually pay more for a *silver* iPhone, just because I think silver is the coolest of all the metals. It’s soft and white and it would get all stained and dinged and scratched up really easily and look pretty cool in the process. I realize a dinged up iPhone is the opposite of what most people want and ain’t gonna happen though.
There’s one thing I love about this idea…
Thanks to a fancy “bling-bling” product line, Apple could finally go back to push functionality on the “normal” product line by including (back) features they got rid off only to make products slimmer and lighter.
The other day I picked up my ~ 2001 PowerBook (12″) featuring a matte display, modem, optical drive, exchangeable battery (unbeatable battery life!), tons of ports etc…
I’m the proud owner of a new 5k iMac which is a great product! But to seriously use it I need additional peripherals for almost everything (CD, DVD, FireWire, Audio-In etc.) and to upgrade RAM and/or disk space you have to tinker half a day or bring it in.
I’d love to see a “slim-down-bling-bling” lineup if they therefor offered me an iPhone/iWatch thats a few millimetre thicker but has a battery that lasts a whole day, no “scratch-me-I’m-sticking-out” camera and maybe even an SD slot (oh, I know, the last one’s never gonna happen).
This first iWatch I’m skipping anyway – comm’n NO features, NO battery life. I ordered the new Garmin Phenix 3 that features everything the iWatch does (except ApplePay that’s anyway nowhere here in Europe) but it has a barometric altimeter, supports ANT+, runs 50+ hours and looks way better to me!
NO… JUST NO
….so ugly….with large portions of gold… iPhone is the maximum size that gold color is acceptable, AND, that is just for gold COLOR but not for gold. For gold, maybe the watch is already the maximum size…
This guy is so out of touch. Stealing a gold iPhone makes sense, since it would require 3-4 ounces of gold. The gold alone would be about $5K and platinum would cost the same. Most people (~95%) would not consider buying this iPhone, since it would only be useful or 2 years and thieves would steal the phone just for gold content.
I don’t think that Angela Ahrendts was brought on just for her retail experience. Her time at DK and Liz, coupled with her resurrection of Burberry,have set her up to take Apple into the luxury goods market.
There are already other companies that do Gold plating, sticking diamonds on products to increase the price. It doesn’t make sense for Apple to do this with computers, iPhones and iPads since they are already premium priced products as is and Apple just isn’t going to sell enough of them to make it worthwhile.
I think Apple needs to get off their asses and make a headless iMac.
No. Apple will sell luxury fashion accessories and cars and clothes. Anything you wear that they will make will have luxury potential. And their cars will be Mercedes-grade, but not Ferrari.
They see their computers as beautiful tools but tools first, I don’t think they view tools as potential luxury items. The other categories they are entering express individual taste and potential for luxury status.
I guess the watch has a gold version because it is a wearable. Since watches are jewellery to some people, and has gold versions, it makes sense to have a gold watch. None of these apply for iphones, ipads or macs.
I’d pay more for a product that was waterproof and indestructible.
The only reason the Apple Watch Edition exists is because Apple wants to entice ALL watch buyers.
There is no need to do anything similar with their phones/laptops, etc.