How Much Will the iPhone 15 Cost?

[jouster]

No, I think consumers agree, which is why people aren't replacing their phones as often. If people were still replacing their phones every 1-2 years, and were willing to pay the increased price, then I'd agree with you.

What difference does a lengthening replacement cadence make? That just means they’re deciding whether to buy a $1000 phone every three years instead of every two. Clearly, people are deciding that $1000 is acceptable for a phone, both from Apple and from other manufacturers.

The original contention, that $1000 phones are not acceptable, is wrong.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

1. Wrong. There’s 19% tax on everything in Germany.

2. Apple, state, carriers are not the same thing; so the monies one pays do not end up in the same pot, to justify paying more for iPhones in Europe. Whatever Apple milks off European consumers goes to Apple.

I wasn’t rationalizing higher prices at all- just trying to answer a guys question with something more than “yes, price of iPhone is higher.”

Consumers don’t have to buy anything non-essential like iPhone. Don’t like a price? Don’t pay it. Don’t like taxes in some bit of geography? Move to a less taxing bit of geography. Griping about such topics on a forum won’t change a thing. Take action to make change for one's self.

We Americans can whine "unfair" too state to state because our sales taxes vary by state and by some cities within the states. A time or two each year, some states will have a sales tax holiday in which they don't charge taxes on items like tech... while other states don't do such things. At Apple pricing, that can be a big difference in what tax-free people are paying for the same product someone else is buying with taxes applied.

While none of the states tend to have taxes as high as many VAT-based systems, this same perception of others being able to buy something for cheaper due to taxes or local pricing or currency exchange differences exists everywhere, even within the United States. Again, if we don't like taxes that apply where we are, we can always NOT "pay too much" for non-essentials like a phone and/or move to somewhere else with more favorable tax policies.

If we exercise our right to choose NOT to pay a relative ripoff price, we don't get ripped off... or over-taxed on that non-purchase. Let seller price it at 20X what it is priced somewhere else and let the taxing authorities tax it at 500% and it won't cost us a nickel if we exercise the simplest of consumer powers: the ability to NOT buy.

 

[GuruZac]

People need to forget about the 256GB of storage in this equation. The base price lowest tier option is what counts as that is the affordable option most will go for regardless of how much storage you are getting. Many will not need 256GB as they rely on iCloud. Apple have pulled a masterstroke of increasing the price, upping the storage which is pennies to do, and getting people like yourself to buy into it being a good deal. In reality the base level iPhone has increased by £100ish and you’re getting more storage whether you want it or not. Some will love it, some will begrudge paying for something they won’t use or need.

A master stroke of increasing price?? You’ve got to be kidding. They charged you $999 for 64GB iPhone 6 years ago and yet there’s whining about a $100USD price increase for 4x the storage after that much time. Especially in light of how literally everything else around us has increased in cost significantly more than the increased cost of the base Pro iPhone. Unreal.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

A master stroke of increasing price?? You’ve got to be kidding. They charged you $999 for 64GB iPhone 6 years ago and yet there’s whining about a $100USD price increase for 4x the storage after that much time. Especially in light of how literally everything else around us has increased in cost significantly more than the increased cost of the base Pro iPhone. Unreal.

Not kidding at all, am I supposed to feel grateful or something? I don't live in America where you've seen prices held at $999 for 6 years straight either.

 

[bradman83]

One question I have never got an answer to with US prices is the maximum sales tax that is applied on top of an iPhone price. We discuss prices here and the pre VAT price is always suggested at British posters, but how much is an iPhone in the US, what is the final cost? Does anyone have any idea?

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.

HobeSoundDarryl’s answer is very detailed but I’ll throw in a few more useful tidbits:

1) There is no national sales tax in the US on retail purchases, only state and local sales taxes.
2) The absolute highest sales tax rate anywhere in the US is 11.45% - that honor goes to the small town of Lake Providence, Louisiana. The average rate is about 6.5% for the whole US.
3) Several states don’t have a state-level sales tax at all, but their localities usually do collect sales tax. New Hampshire is a notable exception - neither the state nor its localities collect sales tax on most retail purchases. Someone who buys an iPhone with a list price of $999 in New Hampshire will pay exactly $999.
4) Many jurisdictions charge higher sales taxes on certain items like cigarettes or alcohol and exempt other purchase types like food, medicine, and clothing. New York does not charge state or local sales tax on grocery and medical items and does not charge state level sales tax on clothing purchases up to $110, for example.

 

[webkit]

No, I think consumers agree, which is why people aren't replacing their phones as often. If people were still replacing their phones every 1-2 years, and were willing to pay the increased price, then I'd agree with you.

According to sources that track estimated iPhone sales, global until sales in 2021 were a RECORD for Apple and about 14% higher than they were in 2016 (year before $999 iPhone X came out). Global unit sales last year were also quite strong at near record level.

 

[webkit]

Apple, state, carriers are not the same thing; so the monies one pays do not end up in the same pot, to justify paying more for iPhones in Europe. Whatever Apple milks off European consumers goes to Apple.

Apple doesn't necessarily "milk" European consumers any more than it does U.S. consumers; it can depend on the exchange rate around time of launch and where it goes from there.

Using Germany as an example, the pre-VAT starting 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).

 

[GuruZac]

Not kidding at all, am I supposed to feel grateful or something? I don't live in America where you've seen prices held at $999 for 6 years straight either.

Not grateful, but realistic. Don't blame Apple for the $ to £ discrepancy. Nobody here is thrilled about increased prices. I just don't understand the "Apple is being greedy" sentiment, when the base iPhone is getting a $100 price increase over a 6 year period, while quadrupling the base storage option in the process. Not to mention, how much has everything else increased in price we all buy? I don't think we're at odds with this, I just don't find the $100USD price increase as surprising given the cost increase with everything.

 

[webkit]

Not kidding at all, am I supposed to feel grateful or something? I don't live in America where you've seen prices held at $999 for 6 years straight either.

And we don't live in the UK where you had seen two straight years (2020 and 2021) of price REDUCTIONS. The current starting price of the Pro model in the UK is only £50 more (including VAT) than it was in 2019. I've never seen so much whining about an increase that is pretty meaningless compared to how much some other things have gone up since 2019; especially considering that the current phone has many improvements over the 2019 model plus twice the storage.

A lot of these price changes can depend on the exchange rates around time of launch. Prices went up in the UK last year largely because of the stronger USD/weaker £. Even with last year's UK increases, prices (excluding purchases taxes) were still fairly inline with U.S. prices. The 14 Pro pre-VAT starting price was around £915 which was around $980 USD or so at the time. By comparison, the pre-sales tax price for same phone in the U.S. was $999.

 

[cocky jeremy]

It might be relevant to you, but that’s just a very single minded view. Especially when people are struggling to eat, and to heat their homes and prices in Europe are extortionate and a phone should not be a luxury item, it’s a tool.

I’m not buying a 15 clone of pretty much any phone from Apple in the the last four years.
I bought a 14 pro last year.USB C is not something I want for £1000 plus right now. Apple are probably reducing component costs inside the phone to make it cheaper to keep their profits high, hence the possibility of hybrid plastic camera lenses, which will never be as good as glass and cheaper batteries and cheaper components they can cram into the SoC, so they don’t have to pay other companies components and also it makes it impossible to fix, but who knows once again I might be proved wrong but I don’t buy a phone every year anymore.

I’ve just bought a Mac mini pro, and a Apple keyboard and mouse because Apple computers don’t come with the basics anymore which is ridiculous, unless you get an iMac which is three years out of date at full price. Since my old Intel 2017 iMac which was maxed out, has just died on me (the PSU board still dies it appears) i’m finding it really hard to justify actually buying new Apple gear of any kind these days.

If you're struggling to get food, you shouldn't be buying an iPhone to begin with. Like I said, $100 is irrelevant. If it's something you need to stop and think about, you shouldn't be buying a $1000 phone anyway.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Not grateful, but realistic. Don't blame Apple for the $ to £ discrepancy. Nobody here is thrilled about increased prices. I just don't understand the "Apple is being greedy" sentiment, when the base iPhone is getting a $100 price increase over a 6 year period, while quadrupling the base storage option in the process. Not to mention, how much has everything else increased in price we all buy? I don't think we're at odds with this, I just don't find the $100USD price increase as surprising given the cost increase with everything.

You’re right the cost of everything has gone up despite manufacturing costs and raw materials costs coming down over the past 7 months. Manufacturers are be quizzed on certain sectors about what they are not passing these reduced costs back onto consumers. One thing that hasn’t gone up is wages, which is why there is push back on everything going up in price and remaining artificially so. If people don’t complain, how are manufacturers going to know we are not happy about it? Forums like this often get quoted in tech articles and I think it’s a positive step to criticise such things. You don’t have to agree with me and rest assured I am realistic!

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

And we don't live in the UK where you had seen two straight years (2020 and 2021) of price REDUCTIONS. The current starting price of the Pro model in the UK is only £50 more (including VAT) than it was in 2019. I've never seen so much whining about an increase that is pretty meaningless compared to how much some other things have gone up since 2019; especially considering that the current phone has many improvements over the 2019 model plus twice the storage.

A lot of these price changes can depend on the exchange rates around time of launch. Prices went up in the UK last year largely because of the stronger USD/weaker £. Even with last year's UK increases, prices (excluding purchases taxes) were still fairly inline with U.S. prices. The 14 Pro pre-VAT starting price was around £915 which was around $980 USD or so at the time. By comparison, the pre-sales tax price for same phone in the U.S. was $999.

I’ve lost count how many times you’ve repeated this, like nobody has any economic knowledge or understanding of inflation, exchange rates and how it translates to prices. I’m not addressing this again.

 

[Born Again]

The market disagrees.

You are okay for paying more for less?

 

[RickDEGH]

Apple doesn't necessarily "milk" European consumers any more than it does U.S. consumers; it can depend on the exchange rate around time of launch and where it goes from there.

Using Germany as an example, the pre-VAT starting 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).

The starting price is not a “was”, it IS the price throughout the year - even with the improvement of the Euro. What’s the justification then? Still because of 2-year warranty? Did Apple mention this to you? Have you looked at the wording of the warranty terms?

 

[Chomp81]

Price remains the same (iPhone 15 Pro Max - 256GB for $1,299).
If storage is cheaper, they're increasing profit, not price.

 

[applepotato666]

Apple doesn't necessarily "milk" European consumers any more than it does U.S. consumers; it can depend on the exchange rate around time of launch and where it goes from there.

This is why I'm excited for the iPhone 15 launch as what will decide whether they milk us for no reason is the price it'll launch at. The 14's launch coincided with a weak Euro, but this time around that's not true.
Especially with Macs it was a really painful jump, this year with the base M2 Pro chip you're paying north of 500 euro more for a MacBook. And the Euro was doing better then. Which is why I'm holding off an upgrade where usually we get new ones for the company every year and sell the previous ones.

 

[webkit]

I’ve lost count how many times you’ve repeated this, like nobody has any economic knowledge or understanding of inflation, exchange rates and how it translates to prices. I’m not addressing this again.

I repeatedly bring some of these things up because you (and a few others) repeatedly whine about iPhone prices in the UK/Europe. It's interesting how you implied American are fortunate that Pro model starting prices in the U.S. had stayed the same for several years yet didn't mention that prices in the UK had actually DROPPED two years in a row during that time.

Again, even with last year's increase, the UK starting price of the iPhone 14 Pro is only £50 (including VAT) higher than the starting price of the 11 Pro in 2019 which is pretty insignificant given the phone's improvements, increased storage, etc. and how much some other things have gone up since 2019.

 

[webkit]

The starting price is not a “was”, it IS the price throughout the year - even with the improvement of the Euro. What’s the justification then?

I had addressed this in another post by stating that I 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 which may not be the best idea.

However, my point here was that when Apple sets prices (excluding purchase taxes) around time of launch they are typically fairly inline with U.S. prices. They are not trying to "milk" European consumers as you put it. If the exchange rate notably changes during the year, it can potentially be good, bad or a bit of both for Apple as it can positively or negatively impact global sales, profits in USD, etc. I'm sure Apple would rather see more currency stability.

Still because of 2-year warranty? Did Apple mention this to you? Have you looked at the wording of the warranty terms?

It's still more of a positive than a negative.

 

[webkit]

This is why I'm excited for the iPhone 15 launch as what will decide whether they milk us for no reason is the price it'll launch at. The 14's launch coincided with a weak Euro, but this time around that's not true.
Especially with Macs it was a really painful jump, this year with the base M2 Pro chip you're paying north of 500 euro more for a MacBook. And the Euro was doing better then. Which is why I'm holding off an upgrade where usually we get new ones for the company every year and sell the previous ones.

It will be interesting to see what happens given the currency rate change. In the past, Apple has lowered launch prices (versus previous year) in Europe but there's certainly no guarantee that will happen this year. Depending on where U.S. prices go, my guess is that iPhone prices in Europe will be the same or little changed.

 

[jouster]

You are okay for paying more for less?

I made no such claim. I simply said that the market shows that $1000 is an acceptable price to large numbers of phone purchasers, both within and outside the Apple ecosystem.

 

[Born Again]

I made no such claim. I simply said that the market shows that $1000 is an acceptable price to large numbers of phone purchasers, both within and outside the Apple ecosystem.

That doesn’t make it okay.

You realize drug prices are out of control in the us market.

The government is finally interjecting because of the abuse.

 

[mrr]

For that cost it should include an Apple Pencil.

 

[Ameer_1]

I'll join the iPhone upgrade program if the iPhone 15 is $39.50

 

[webkit]

You realize drug prices are out of control in the us market.

The government is finally interjecting because of the abuse.

What do prescription drug prices have to do with this?

An issue with prescription drug prices in the U.S. is that they can be significantly higher here than in other countries. That's not the case with smartphones.

Additionally, smartphones are much more of a discretionary purchase while prescription drugs are not. No one needs to buy a $1,000+ smartphone (there are many options under $500 including some under $100) while someone may need a particular drug to live, function, etc.

 

[compwiz1202]

Inflation has reduced from 11% (Oct 22) to 6.8% (present rate) though. I would expect prices to come down, although we know they are being held artificially high by supermarkets and most retailers. I doubt Apple will be honest if the rest are not.

Issue is until inflatiion is negative, nothing will go down, it's will just rise more slowly