>Once anyone can afford it, it's no longer a status symbol.
I completely disagree. There are plenty of things which are status symbols that aren't overly expensive. "Status symbol" doesn't mean "unobtainable", often people get them just to fit in with their perceived "status" among their peers.
Yes part of the reason people buy iPhones is because everyone else has one but it's more about network effects than a status symbol. There are just some things that work better between iPhones than between iPhones and Android phones.
Little things like being able to automatically share WiFi passwords, Apple Pay between people, FaceTime, iMessage, being able to share my location continuously with my wife when I'm on the road (or before when I was running long distances), etc.