Warren Buffett says you'd turn down $10,000 never to use an iPhone again — is he right?

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By John-Anthony Disotto
published

Would you accept $10,000?

iPhone Keeps restarting. Three iPhones stacked up on top of each other.
(Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)

Warren Buffett, one of the wealthiest men in the world and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, a holding company for investments, is a massive fan of Apple stock, with over $137 billion invested in AAPL.

Speaking to CNBC, Buffett has now said that $10,000 isn't enough to pry you away from using an iPhone for the rest of your life - but do you agree?

“If you’re an Apple user and somebody offers you $10,000, but the only proviso is they’ll take away your iPhone and you’ll never be able to buy another, you’re not going to take it. If they tell you if you buy another Ford car, they’ll give you $10,000 not to do that, you’ll take the $10,000 and you’ll buy a Chevy instead."

Also a huge fan of Tim Cook, Buffett added, "I think that Tim Cook is one of the classiest CEOs. He understands the business and he has a product, which Steve Jobs basically invented, but Tim Cook has managed that company in an extraordinary way.”

$10,000 to move from iPhone to Android?

If you were offered $10,000 to never use an iPhone again, would you accept? 

I think given the offer, which, let's be honest, wouldn't happen, I would accept. $10,000 is a fancy holiday, and quite honestly, I value that more than what iOS brings to my life. Don't get me wrong, I love my iPhone, and I have one of the best iPhones out, the iPhone 14 Pro.

But, if someone was to offer me $10,000 to switch to Android, I'd accept it in an instant if I could still use my iPad and MacBook Pro. Android smartphones like the Google Pixel 7 Pro or the Samsung S23 Ultra are some of the best devices on the market, and while I would always opt for an iPhone, $10,000 changes that.

Warren Buffett is a billionaire, $10,000 is nothing to him, but for the rest of us, $10,000 in cash to change from one amazing device to another? Why not? 

John-Anthony Disotto
John-Anthony Disotto
How To Editor

John-Anthony Disotto is the How To Editor of iMore, ensuring you can get the most from your Apple products and helping fix things when your technology isn’t behaving itself.

Living in Scotland, where he worked for Apple as a technician focused on iOS and iPhone repairs at the Genius Bar, John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade and prides himself in his ability to complete his Apple Watch activity rings.

John-Anthony has previously worked in editorial for collectable TCG websites and graduated from The University of Strathclyde where he won the Scottish Student Journalism Award for Website of the Year as Editor-in-Chief of his university paper. He is also an avid film geek, having previously written film reviews and received the Edinburgh International Film Festival Student Critics award in 2019. 

John-Anthony also loves to tinker with other non-Apple technology and enjoys playing around with game emulation and Linux on his Steam Deck.

In his spare time, John-Anthony can be found watching any sport under the sun from football to darts, taking the term “Lego house” far too literally as he runs out of space to display any more plastic bricks, or chilling on the couch with his French Bulldog, Kermit. 

3 Comments Comment from the forums
  • GimmeBamba
    You should work on getting that bio down to one paragraph; redacted.
    Reply
  • Up_And_Away
    10k has less meaning to a multi billionaire than the average iPhone user but I understand his, exaggerated, point. iPhone is one of those integral things to many people. They’d not want to give it up easily.

    Warren Buffet believes in investing in well managed companies that create products that consumers will always return to. It’s what he calls a revenue moat. Apple is one of if not the brightest examples of this.
    Reply
  • Lee_Bo
    $10k? Nope.

    $1 million tax free? Yep, I go back to Android.
    Reply