The base phone price is now $999. The announcement and marketing effectively position the XS as the default model (with the messaging around the XR casting it as a downgrade, more like the iPhone 5C). They also eliminated the regular Plus so users who want a larger phone are forced to the even more expensive Max.
It looks like they pulled this off pretty well too, although sales numbers in the coming months will tell the true story. In one generation they went from, "pay $999 to upgrade to the higher end option (the X)," to, "pay $999 for our regular phone or downgrade to the XR."
It looks like they pulled this off pretty well too, although sales numbers in the coming months will tell the true story. In one generation they went from, "pay $999 to upgrade to the higher end option (the X)," to, "pay $999 for our regular phone or downgrade to the XR."