They only ever where sub $500 with a contract. And this is still true today (at least in my market). But people don’t like spending >$70 dollars a month on a contract
The rate of them getting faster and better was also much higher.
Now people complain that nothing is exciting anymore.
It’s good that people are upgrading less frequently. One could argue Apple is pricing things with this in mind. But maybe there is strong evidence that can’t be part of their planning.