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It is the ecosystem that Apple sells, not the hardware. People buy Apple because they know the handset will be supported for a specific period of time, that every developer wants to sell on iOS and works hard to be there, and that they can walk into an Apple store and get support any day they want.

For the hacker, most of these things are irrelevant, but for Joe-Schmo who wants to put minimal effort forward when managing their digital life, the iPhone is the pinnacle of abstraction.

Apple makes money because they sell the promise of a long, comfortable relationship and they fulfill it time and again. Even with Samsung, will I be able to update my s4 beyond Jellybean? The answer is a firm "maybe", but I know 100% that my iPhone will get updates for years.

That's why Apple makes money, because they sell peace of mind.

True, and that peace of mind can be appealing to hackers as well. We only have so many hours in the day after all.

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Exactly. When I was 20 I'd happily spend my weekend building PCs or compiling Linux kernels. In general, my time/money ratio was skewed heavily towards time.

Now I'm in my 30s and have a demanding career it's very much the other way. Spare time is rare and incredibly precious.

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