Washington Post:

You can’t put a price on loyalty. Just kidding, it’s $1,000.

And:

For some perspective, we charted out the past few years of prices on a few iconic Apple products. Then we compared them with other brands and some proprietary data about Americans’ phone purchase habits from mobile analytics firm BayStreet Research.

What we learned: Being loyal to Apple is getting expensive. Many Apple product prices are rising faster than inflation — faster, even, than the price of prescription drugs or going to college. Yet when Apple offers cheaper options for its most important product, the iPhone, Americans tend to take the more expensive choice. So while Apple isn’t charging all customers more, it’s definitely extracting more money from frequent upgraders.

And:

Not everything Apple has gone up in price: An entry-level iMac and iPad have gotten cheaper since 2014, though in both cases the company has since added a new higher-end (and higher-price) “Pro” version to its lineup.

This piece is full of interesting data. Be sure to stop and process the graphics. And keep reading. One core point that struck home for me:

Most technology products are commodities that go down in price over time. Apple has worked very hard not to become a commodity.

And that’s it exactly. It’s become harder and harder over time to distinguish all those Windows laptops and Android phones, one from another. Apple continues to pour R&D dollars into ensuring the uniqueness of its products.

If people stop buying into the Apple ecosystem, if Apple Stores stop being so crowded, that’d surely shift Apple’s pricing strategy. As is, seems like Apple has their pricing strategy well tuned.