smartphones are essential in many places now.

Luxury has a definition in economics. It’s goods beyond basic needs.

Apple is very very much a luxury. By no means are they a need. Even if you consider a cell phone a need today, there are dozens of other phones out there ranging from a few bucks up to a few thousand dollars.

You can certainly consider them overpriced, sure. That’s an opinion. What’s a fact is that they are very much a luxury, not a necessity.

Jesus Christ I’m using actual fucking terms here. Luxuries are good beyond basic necessities. You don’t need a fucking iPhone.

This isn’t a matter of opinion. By literal economic definition, Apple products are luxuries.