IPhone 15 Vs. Bitcoin: Will You Give in to Mass Consumerism?

@ssaurel

Bitcoiner. Freedom Maximalist. Author of "The Truth About...

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Every year or so, it's the same thing: Tim Cook takes to the stage to present the most powerful iPhone ever conceived.

Tim Cook has only one objective: to make as many people as possible fall in love so that Apple can generate ever greater profits at the expense of consumers.

The new iPhone he's presenting is undoubtedly the best smartphone on the market when it's unveiled, but do you need that much power in your pocket? Do you need to change your smartphone every year and give in to the sirens of mass consumerism?

Because Apple's iPhone is the epitome of mass consumerism, which is constantly coming up with ingenious ways to persuade you to spend the fruits of your labor on useless things.

The reason I bring this up is that Tim Cook is going to present the iPhone 15 on September 12, 2023. If it's not Tim Cook taking the stage, it'll be someone else from Apple, but the idea will be the same, of course.

The iPhone 15 will be the most powerful iPhone ever designed, as is the case every year with a new iPhone.

For this new iPhone, the question remains the same:

Are you going to be like all the Apple fans who spend more than $1K every year on a new device?

To show you just how bad a choice this is, I've taken the time to analyze the price of Bitcoin at every commercial iPhone launch since the iPhone X on November 3, 2017. Each time, I took Apple's basic flagship model. I then calculated how much money in US dollars you'd have today, on September 10, 2023, if you'd bought the equivalent of the iPhone's price at the time in BTC.

The result is as follows:

If you had bought BTC on November 3, 2017, instead of the $999 of the iPhone X, today you'd have the equivalent of $3,585 in your pocket, an increase of +258%.

You could even afford to sell some of your BTC to buy the iPhone 15, which will be released on September 12, 2023...

It's broadly the same with all the iPhones that have come out since, except for the one in 2021, the iPhone 13 Pro Max, since Bitcoin was near the top of its Bull Market at the time, and we're in the middle of the longest Bear Market in Bitcoin history.

But there's little doubt that in the future, having bought BTC at the end of 2021 instead of the iPhone 13 Pro Max will once again become a winning choice. Because with Bitcoin, you've bought an asset that will increase in value in the future. This is not the case with an iPhone, which even if it retains its value for a long time on the second-hand market, is still a liability.

The root of the problem goes far beyond the iPhone.

Mass consumer society is associated with the flaws of the fiat system. If consumers are so often driven to give in to the mass consumer society, it's above all because they have no savings technology worthy of the name in the current system.

What's the point of saving the fruit of your labor since it keeps devaluing over time?

This superb infographic by Visual Capitalist stops in 2020, but you know that the situation is even worse in 2023 when the M2 Money Supply has been inflated by almost 40% in just a few months.

This monetary inflation sends you a simple signal if you're a lambda consumer who hasn't bothered to understand the why of Bitcoin: I have no interest in keeping my money in the bank as it keeps losing value.

This is where Bitcoin is a unique game-changer, with its hard-capped offer of 21 million units no matter what.

With Bitcoin, you have the best savings technology available. Everyone can benefit. All you need is a smartphone and an Internet connection to access basic banking services.

In the future, it's a safe bet that as Bitcoin adoption continues among the general public, more and more people will understand that it's better to refocus on your real needs rather than constantly spending the fruits of your labor on useless things.

When Tim Cook presents the iPhone 15, ask yourself if your smartphone isn't already sufficient for your needs. It probably will be, and then you can make a better choice than giving Apple at least $1,099. The better choice is to save the fruits of your labor within the world's most secure decentralized money network.

You'll be able to thank the you of 2023 in a few years.

Also published here.