I remember the old days when I feel a natural bond with strangers if we own the same consumer product.
A “good” brand that I like can be associated with a group of people that I am likely to feel comfortable to mingle with.
This happened to Apple products during my college time, and later translated to Apple Watch and AirPod.
This happened to Allbirds shoes during my California time, where I could chat with strangers who are wearing Allbirds in local Starbuck shops.
Over times, when that brand is too mass market, that mojo gets lost – not all people you met using iPhone meet your expectations, thus you no longer use it as an indicator of this person’s characteristics.
When using iPhone simply can’t tell you that much about this person, it becomes more of a utility. You probably need other consumer goods to show who you are.