[Robo]

Originally Posted by El Gallo Apple seriously needs to find a way to make a flagship phone in the $800 range again. (This isn't new this is what they used to do.)

I think they still do, though. Like, comparing the iPhone 8 to the iPhone XR, the iPhone XR offers a much larger screen (addressing the most obvious way the 8 was behind its rivals), advanced features like Face ID, and the same aluminum and glass design for $749. As a successor to the iPhone 6/7/8, it's a huge improvement to anyone who can stomach the larger size — it honestly offers so many of the XS's features that it makes that phone look like a bad deal in comparison. It has one camera, but so did the iPhone 6/7/8.

Originally Posted by El Gallo To get my money Apple must offer at least the iPhone X type phone for $750 in their releases this fall. That means two generation old tech for value price. Last year they created the iPhone Xr and removed the X so they wouldn't have to lower the price for that level of tech. An AMOLED screen, face ID and multiple back cameras are at least two generations old for APPLE when this fall rolls around and if they refuse to offer that tech at a two year old price, I won't give them my money.

They didn't just take the X and drop the price $250 because the X and XS were designed from the start as a new higher tier of products — it's not like polished stainless steel gets dramatically cheaper a year later. Designing a new "mainstream" iPhone with the X's all-screen design was the right call — Apple was able to give it the latest SoC, which the $750 tier iPhone should always have, and they were able to give it a different personality more appropriate for the mass market. The latest rumor is that this year the stainless steel XS successors are going to be called "iPhone Pro," and that's not a bad way to think about them. This doesn't mean that the $750 tier is "demoted" — it's still every bit the latest iPhone — there's just a premium tier with a more luxurious design on top of it, as has been the case for the last two years.

Face ID? You have Face ID in the XR already.
Multiple back cameras? All the leaks say you'll get that in the XR successor this fall.
AMOLED? You probably won't get that this year. But that's sort of a weird ask, because it's not like AMOLED is an out-and-out improvement over LCD, they're just different. I'd rather they use a good LCD than a bad AMOLED, even if that keeps them from checking of that box on your list of musts.

Originally Posted by El Gallo It isn't lack of innovation. Apple is keeping their innovation at a certain price tier and refusing to even offer the older phones with that tech at the lower prices.

I think the XR is the exact opposite of Apple "keeping their innovation at a certain price tier."