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- šÆ How Apple makes you spend more
šÆ How Apple makes you spend more
A masterclass in pricing strategy
Read time: 3 minutes 5 seconds

Ever wondered why whenever you buy MacBook, iPhone, iPad etc, you always end up spending more than intended?
You're not alone.
Apple has mastered the art of making their upsells seem irresistible through a carefully architected pricing strategy.
I recently picked up an iPad* and couldnāt help but notice a handful of neat tactics they leverage throughout the purchase journey to make you spend more.
Hereās how they work, and how to utilise them yourself.
Enjoy.
ā Tom
* ⦠ok maybe it was an iPad Pro



Chess Move
The what: A TLDR explanation of the strategy
You open the Apple website, looking to buy an iPad.
Youāre presented with 5x options:
$329 (iPad 9th Gen): The most affordable iPad.
$449 (iPad 10th Gen): The newer iPad with a better display, chip, camera, and USB-C.
$499 (iPad Mini): The compact iPad that fits in one hand.
$599 (iPad Air): The thinner and lighter iPad with a laptop-grade chip.
$799 (iPad Pro): The best iPad money can buy.

Like most prospective customers, your needs would be met with the cheapest iPad on offerā¦
but you end up spending an additional 82% (+$270) on the iPad Air.
Why is that?
The answer begins with the āCenter-Stage Effectā:
When customers are presented with a range of choices, they perceive the middle options to be the best value-for-money.
Most buyers donāt consider themselves a power-user needing a āProā device.
But thereās also natural aversion to buying a āprevious-genā device.

š” | Strategy Playbook: Assemble pricing ladders that leverage cognitive biases to draw customers towards premium products. |


Breakdown
The how: The strategic playbook boiled down to 3x key takeaways
1. Incremental upgrades
Due to the āCenter-Stage Effectā, youāre likely to initiate your purchase flow with the 10th Gen iPad.
After choosing a colour, youāre asked to āChoose how much space youāll needā: 64GB or 256GB.
For 4x the storage, itās just an extra $150.
One scroll later, you must āChoose how youāll stay connectedā: Wi-Fi only, or Wi-Fi + Cellular.
Again, another $150.
Each upsell is introduced one-by-one, taking up the entire viewport, rather than all at once to gauge them holistically.
As you assess each incremental upsell, "Commitment Bias" stops you from reverting decisions you previously committed to.
Whether you picked extra storage or cellular connectivity, it wonāt take long to realise that the extra $150 youāve mentally parted ways with could instead cover upgrading to the iPad Air.
When evaluated against the equally-priced storage or cellular add-ons, getting the Air feels like a no-brainer.

2. Win the persuadable cohort
There are 3 cohorts of iPad buyers:
People who want the cheapest iPad.
People who want the best iPad on the market.
People who want the iPad with the best value-for-money.
For Category 1 buyers, no amount of extra functionality will justify spending any more than necessary for core features like checking emails and watching Netflix.
Category 2 buyers go straight for the iPad Pro, along with all the bells and whistles, knowing theyāre getting the best tablet money can buy.
Category 3 buyers are the āswing votersā - they may have an initial preference for cheaper cost or higher performance, but ultimately they make decisions based on a value assessment of options presented to them.
Appleās pricing ladders primarily maximise the Average Cart Value (āACVā) of Category 3 buyers.
3. Drive value across the ecosystem
60% of Apple customers own 3 or all 4 of the main Apple devices iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac (CIRP, 2023).
Apple uses variations of the same strategies to incentivise upgrades across each device range:
Prior Gen ā Current Gen
Faster performance
Additional storage
More connectivity
āMiniā / āMaxā
āAirā / āProā
And then thereās peripherals.
Plan to draw, write, create? Get the Apple Pencil.
Spend a lot of time typing? Get the Magic Keyboard Folio.
Tie it all together with some AirPods that seamlessly work across all devicesā¦
or maybe AirPod Prosā¦
or even AirPods Max!



Rabbit Hole
The where: 3x high-signal resources to learn more
[2 minute read]
Agenda for the legendary āTop 100ā strategy session - a 3-day workshop with 100 of Jobsās most loyal supporters across Appleās leadership team.
A few highlights:
āTie all our products together, so we further lock customers into our ecosystemā
āWeāre in a Holy War with Googleā
āPlan for the iPhone Nanoā
[2 minute read]
Apple faces fierce competition against iPhones, MacBooks, and iMacs.
Customers have plenty of viable cheaper alternatives to Appleās premium offerings.
So, how come no company has successfully competed in iPad, iPod, or iPod Touch device categories?
The answer might surprise you.
[3 minute watch]
Back in 2007, many doubted if Appleās personal computers met a real market need.
They were high-priced and elegant, but didnāt serve the performance-centric gaming segment.
This is what Steve Jobs had to say when asked about whether targeting a āsmaller elite rather than mass marketā would lead Apple to overtake PCs in market share.
Thatās all for todayās issue, folks!
Iāll leave you with one question to ponder:
ā What behavioural economics principles might you leverage to increase the average value of a customer?
Thanks for being here.
ā Tom


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