It's apples marketing and more subtle branding. Apple have convinced a large section of the market then there must be something wrong with any phones under $800. Their cheapest handset uses an 8 year old chassis which implies that if you cannot afford the best then you get seconds.

Conversely Android had loads of great handsets under that price like the Pixel 8, Nothing 2, Samsung A54 etc which offer an mod cons but because they are lower in price they are seen as inferior.