I see less sales as a good thing. People should be keeping their devices longer and by extension, buying less phones.
Upgrading yearly is nonsense...even every two years is pushing it.
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How Much Will the iPhone 15 Cost?
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I see less sales as a good thing. People should be keeping their devices longer and by extension, buying less phones.
Upgrading yearly is nonsense...even every two years is pushing it.
And some of us do not require or want 256GB. If we have to pay for something we do not want, another knife in the back from Cook.
I already paid the extra $100 to go from 128GB to 256GB on my previous 11 Pro and 13 Pro. So if the 15 Pro Max 256GB is now the entry level and starts at $1199, then that would be no different for me since I was planning to move from a Pro to Pro Max and can't do less than 256GB. May even go to 512GB.
The thing I find odd is nobody is acknowledging the iPhone X started at 64GB and was $999 in 2017. Apple is now starting with 256GB for supposedly $1099, 6 years later.
The thing I find odd is nobody is acknowledging the iPhone X started at 64GB and was $999 in 2017. Apple is now starting with 256GB for supposedly $1099, 6 years later.
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The iPhone X was heavily criticised on here back in 2017 for its £999 cost and back then, 64GB was considered a decent amount of storage. Apps and the OS also didn't occupy as much memory back then either. No amount of dressing this cost increase to accomodate a base 256GB storage tier is going to make this any better for those who don't want or need that amount of storage but will have to pay an additional £100 for nothing. These devices were already insanely expensive so any significant price increase is going to be met with displeasure by many.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
In the U.S., sales taxes vary by state, typically between about 4% and about 7%. There are also some areas with a local sales tax on top of the state sales tax, ranging from 0% (more) towards about 3% more. The state of California has the highest state sales tax at 7.25%. Within California, the average local sales tax adds 1.57%, yielding a combined rate of around 8.82%.
Another state- Tennessee- has the highest combined sales tax rate up at 9.55%. On the other hand, Tennessee has no state income tax, so less is taken out of Tennessee worker's paychecks vs. some surrounding states with state income taxes.
The easy comparison is VAT vs. sales taxes. In isolation like that, the one paying a VAT generally feels like they are "losing" (by paying more). However, there's all kinds of other variables in play. For example, sales taxes usually apply to food and lodging too while VAT usually excludes those. If someone's VAT is like this, every bit of food Americans buy have a tax applied and there are far more purchases of food at far greater total annual expense than iPhones.
Most Americans have ever-rising (steep) property taxes (and renters don't dodge those because the landlord builds them into ever-increasing rents). There are national and state income (and sometimes regional & city) taxes and special taxes on select activities. Etc.
Any such comparison probably needs to incorporate many more variables to judge added tax costs in one nation vs. another. What seems unfairly cheaper through one lens may be more than made up for through another. For example, if you live in a country with a relatively steep VAT, add in total cost of ownership over the life of the device. Americans pay a LOT for cellular service. On average it is $113/month per person (and yes fellow Americans, I know some of us are well below that- it's an average... which means others are well above that to make it reach that average). I've seen many posts by people in VAT countries where great cell service is substantially cheaper vs. even America's "bargain" MVNO options. Factor that in and owning a new phone may be a lot cheaper than it is in America. You simply have to include some time for your advantages to compensate to the one-time purchase disadvantage.
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Nobody is welcoming a price increase, but considering Apple has increased the price $100USD over a 6 year period, while quadrupling the base storage isn't outrageous, especially in light of what inflation has done to the cost of literally everything else. Groceries and gas here in the states have seen far more than the absolutely bull$hit claims of 8% inflation. If the iPhone goes up $100 on a $999 base cost, that's a 10% price increase, while also giving you twice the storage.
Whatever governments may charge in purchase taxes (sales tax, GST, VAT, etc.) is out of Apple's hands. When the iPhone 14 Pro launched last year, starting prices (excluding purchase taxes) in USD were $999 in the U.S. and around $980 or so in the UK. I don't think Apple should necessarily be sacrificing profits (selling for much less than U.S. prices) overseas just because some governments may charge high(er) purchase taxes.
When comparing prices between countries/regions, one must also factor in potential local laws that may add costs e.g., in EU countries I believe the required iPhone warranty is 2 years while in the U.S. the warranty is only 1 year.
I do, however, think Apple should reconsider adjusting their prices during the year if there are significant currency rate changes. Apple tends to keep iPhone prices unchanged between launches.
According to sources that track estimated iPhone sales, global until sales in 2022 were as much as 7%+ higher than they were in 2017 and 2021 was a record year for iPhone sales.
Possible apple justifies this with increased regulatory burden. Europe forced the switch to USBC probably 1-2 years before apple planned. Maybe they pass that cost on to Europeans.
100$ in real life will probably translate to 130-150€ in Europe.
Insane.
Insane.
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Tim said the lightning port, when it was introduced, was a 10-year port, and it's right on time to be phased out. The iPads have already been switched, so the cost is negligible or already accounted for.
I think apple would be introducing usb-c this year with or without the EU. Regardless, I'm glad it's happening, even if I don't need to upgrade for a few more years.
Yet the iPhone remains the most popular phone in the U.S., China, and Japan. If price increases are going to kill sales (the annual prediction on offered tech blogs), and cause the collapse of Apple, what about Samsung and others who are also raising prices at the same rate?
Just because prices may increase in the U.S. does not mean they will increase in Europe and vice versa. A reason iPhone prices went up in Europe last year was due to the stronger USD/weaker euro.
Using Germany as an example, the pre-VAT starting launch price of the 14 Pro last year was around €1,086 which at the time was equal to around $1,043 USD compared to a pre-sales tax price of $999 for same phone in U.S. Not significantly different especially if you consider that iPhones in EU countries have longer warranties (2 years) than those in the U.S. (1 year).
Since the USD is weaker this year against the euro, even if there is a price increase in the U.S. that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be one in Europe.
Storage doesn't matter, prices of storage decline with 20-30% every year. I'm sure 128GB now costs them less than 64GB did back in the day. Apple sells the least you need for the device to be usable in a way where it isn't frustrating and you can't do that with anything below 128GB nowadays, which is why base storage is 128GB. The cost of upgrading it is near completely profit.
Still even though iPhones have gotten more expensive with more expensive models, the base models are as cheap as ever when you factor in inflation. Prices have not technically increased, if anything they've been going down, it's people's purchasing power that's suffering. The compromises to keep the price point are obvious. The base iPhone 14 is a rebrand of the 13 with a **** battery. Obviously Apple will not compromise on their margin even if that takes them out of the European market and at a certain point it will.
Don’t get lost on your hiking trip. That 13 Pro does not have the remote SOS satellite feature
Wouldn’t that be ironic? 😁
It's absolutely true that iPhones have always been expensive or luxury items. This has not only been true since the iPhone X.
The part that just isn't true is that the iPhone has gotten relatively more expensive when you factor in inflation. In Europe (I'm in Germany) we theoretically pay over €1500 (equivalent to over $1600) including VAT for a pro max with 256 Gb at Apple. However, you can even get the pro max new for €1200, a normal pro with 256 Gb for just over €1000 (1100 $).
Relative to the iPhone, high-end droids like the S23 Plus or Ultra have definitely not gotten any cheaper, they're just falling in price faster.
You are lucky you still have a $999 base cost. Even with 10% added on top of a $1099 price point, you would still come in well under overseas prices (£147 less than the UK). Last year the base cost in the UK was £1099 (increase of £150 to the previous year) and if the cost goes up for you guys this year, you can bet it will go up again here too. So a 15 Pro will likely be £1199 and and a 15 Pro Max will be £1299. Those people on 2 and 3 year upgrade cycles are not experiencing a £100 increase, but a £250 increase if the rumours are to be believed at this point. The prices didn't go up last year in line with inflation, in fact they were inflated and they certainly won't be coming down this year in line with the falling inflation of the last few months.
We pay nearly double what you pay for your petrol at the pump too. I can see why phone upgrades are falling, that is for sure.
I hope the pro models cost at least 2000$.
I don't want Tim to take a pay cut again this year.
I don't want Tim to take a pay cut again this year.
meanwhile i'm still paying off my 13 pro from verizon 😂
Cue the obligatory “E.U. and USB-C bad -Poor trillion dollar company is forced by evil lawmakers to raise prices. 
” comments!
The reality of these price increases is “just” Apple ensuring growth while the market rapidly matures.
Less and less total number of people (Worldwide) buy new iPhones every year. And this will increase as annual performance increases steadily stagnate.
So those of us who do upgrade in any given year have to pay the difference from all the ones that don’t.
And seeing all the latest iPhones next to one another, I really can’t sympathize with anyone complaining they can’t afford to upgrade as often as they used to.
Newer iPhones are so aggressively similar and 90% of your day-to-day user experience identical across every model, that I almost don’t even understand why anyone would upgrade sooner than every 3-5 years.
For a slightly smaller notch, a few mms slimmer bezels, better cameras? Come on, you can find better things to spend your money on!*
*I know you won’t though, and that’s why Apple will keep raising prices. 🤦♂️
” comments!The reality of these price increases is “just” Apple ensuring growth while the market rapidly matures.
Less and less total number of people (Worldwide) buy new iPhones every year. And this will increase as annual performance increases steadily stagnate.
So those of us who do upgrade in any given year have to pay the difference from all the ones that don’t.
And seeing all the latest iPhones next to one another, I really can’t sympathize with anyone complaining they can’t afford to upgrade as often as they used to.
Newer iPhones are so aggressively similar and 90% of your day-to-day user experience identical across every model, that I almost don’t even understand why anyone would upgrade sooner than every 3-5 years.
For a slightly smaller notch, a few mms slimmer bezels, better cameras? Come on, you can find better things to spend your money on!*
*I know you won’t though, and that’s why Apple will keep raising prices. 🤦♂️
Androids do fall in price in the months after release I agree. I wouldn't mind so much if an iPhone 14 Pro fell from £1099 to £949 after a couple of months but Apple holds the prices for 12 months.
If we factor in inflation for this year, we should be getting a price reduction compared to this time last year then, fingers crossed.