Trade is generally a positive-sum game. The fact that the producer makes a profit means there is a producer surplus but the fact that consumers buy it means there is a consumer surplus too. The general public thinks iPhones are worth more than what Apple is charging, so they buy it.
By buying products with large profit margins you're sending a message that you want the company to stay in business and grow and keep doing what it's doing.
> By buying products with huge profit margins you're spending money on features that you're not getting.
No, part of what makes Apple so valuable is that they resist adding more "features" than the bare minimum, in favor of trying to preserve their best feature: simplicity.
'Consumer surplus' is an economic term, and it's simply a calculated or derived quantity. The fact of the matter is, marketing can change opinions on what a product is worth, or whether it should be bought. Surplus, in other words, is very much manipulable by marketing and advertisement. Consumers think iPhones are worth buying because Apple managed to convince them, and their friends, of it. Not because they may inherently provide more utility/enjoyment over their lifespan than a product from a competitor.
I don't mean to imply Apple products are overpriced in general. I mostly just prefer to discount/devalue marketing when making decisions on what to buy, and instead focus on the features that are important to me.
The standard free market theory is that profit attracts competitors that enter the market and drive down those profits. They would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for those pesky patents.
By buying products with large profit margins you're sending a message that you want the company to stay in business and grow and keep doing what it's doing.
> By buying products with huge profit margins you're spending money on features that you're not getting.
No, part of what makes Apple so valuable is that they resist adding more "features" than the bare minimum, in favor of trying to preserve their best feature: simplicity.