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The story
A thread titled “Are you guys buying the iPhone 18?” went up on 5ch’s “Morning Coffee” board, and it quickly filled with reactions to the pricing of the iPhone 18 lineup and the rumored foldable “iPhone Duo.” Posters piled on about the jump from 256GB to 512GB alone tacking on 35,000 yen, and about the top model costing as much as three of the cheapest iPhones combined. Opinions split between “too expensive to touch” and “still want one anyway.” The thread also touched on whether removable-battery phones might make a comeback, given the EU’s upcoming battery-replacement mandate.
What people said
I upgrade every year, but I don't need a Pro, so I'll probably sit this one out.
And it's had two price hikes since then.
Gonna line up at the Apple Store and high-five the Black employee.
Wasn't that just a testbed for foldable design elements?
Even folded up, this looks kind of awkward — doesn't seem like it'll sit well in a pocket.
There's not much spec difference anyway, so I'm planning to buy the 17 once it drops in price.
The 17 got a price hike though.
I want to switch over from Android.
if I'm buying, might as well go with the 17.
You could get compatible batteries from places like ROWA for about 1,000 yen.
People who leave a power bank plugged in all the time are lazy to begin with — they can't handle that kind of charging routine.
Just charge it with a power bank like usual.
The EU mandate just means that once your phone's battery degrades, you can buy a replacement battery yourself and swap it in.
Going with the 18 Pro 512GB.
If battery degradation is the only issue for an iPhone user, you'd be better off just getting the battery replaced.
Once it's a battery pack, other makers will put out compatible ones, so it's not an issue.
Even now you can get compatible batteries for about 2,000 yen, so swapping it yourself keeps costs down.
That said, trade-ins and buybacks will likely refuse it, so it's more for people who plan to run the phone into the ground rather than resell it.
They scalp good-seat tickets at high prices and rake in a solid profit.
Installments, obviously.
People like that should just keep using their current phone, swapping the battery, until it drops off the iOS update list.
Or just accept it and cycle through cheap Androids ('doro,' Japanese phone slang for Android) every few years.
Even without this size, I wouldn't put it in a dress-shirt pocket — it sags and looks sloppy.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
iPhone pricing in Japan has kept climbing in recent years against the backdrop of a weak yen, and the thread includes comments noting that “there have already been two price hikes since the 17.” The claim that bumping storage up just one tier adds 35,000 yen reflects a real sense that the higher up the lineup you go, the steeper the increases get. Under an EU battery regulation that took effect in 2023, mobile devices are required to be designed so users can replace the battery themselves, with the mandate expected to fully kick in around 2027. The thread’s prediction that “removable-battery phones will become more common” seems to be riding on this trend, though posters couldn’t confirm when or with which model Apple might comply. The foldable’s name, “Duo,” also evoked the 1990s laptop the “PowerBook Duo” for posters old enough to remember classic Apple gear.
※This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Are you guys buying the iPhone 18?.”
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