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Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro will have a starting price that is $50 more than the iPhone 16 Pro but it will come with a minimum 256GB of storage, doubling the base capacity compared to last year's model. The information comes from Chinese leaker Instant Digital, posting on Weibo. The account, which has 1.5 million followers, has now made the claim three separate times in recent weeks.

iPhone-17-Pro-Dark-Blue-and-Orange.jpg

Currently, the iPhone 16 Pro starts at 128GB storage for $999, while the 256GB version costs $1,099. By contrast, the larger iPhone 16 Pro Max already begins at 256GB for $1,199. Both Pro models offer up to 1TB of storage.

Before the launch of the iPhone 15 series in 2023, there were rumors that the iPhone 15 Pro Max would drop the 128GB tier and start at $1,199, up from $1,099 for the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The rumor proved accurate, but only because Apple eliminated the lower storage option, effectively raising the entry price.

Apple may be preparing a similar shift for the iPhone 17 Pro. A new 256GB base model could be priced at $1,049, replacing the 128GB model at $999. Rather than a straightforward $50 price hike, this move could be perceived by customers as better value, offering more storage for only a modest increase – and simplifying the lineup in the process.

In July, Jefferies reported that Apple plans to raise prices across the iPhone 17 lineup by $50, citing higher component costs and tariffs related to China. Instant Digital echoed this expectation in a previous post. The Wall Street Journal has also reported that Apple is considering raising prices for its upcoming ‌iPhone 17‌ models.

Instant Digital has shared accurate Apple information before, including the Yellow iPhone 14 launch, iPhone 15's frosted glass back, spatial video on iPhone 15 Pro, M4 iPad Pro's nano-texture display, and iPhone 16 Pro battery specs. Their claims are therefore worth taking seriously.

We'll know for sure soon enough. Apple is rumored to unveil the iPhone 17 lineup on September 9, with a potential launch date of September 19.

Article Link: iPhone 17 Pro to Start at $1,049 With Doubled Base Storage
Doubling the base storage sounds smart with how much space Apple intelligence takes up, especially when someone upgrades from a non AI device @128gb to an AI device with 128gb and now they don’t have enough room to bring over their data due to Apple intelligence taking up 25+GB of local storage.
 
Anyone remember when you could buy a decked-out iPhone for $700 fifteen years ago? The base iPhones were like $400. And even back then people thought this was crazy expensive.
The two original iPhone storage sizes cost $499 and $599.

By “decked-out” you mean 8 GB of storage with a 3.5” display. The LLM estimates the chip speed of iPhone 17 Pro to be 500x faster than the original iPhone, with 256 GB starting storage, 64x the base iPhone at the time, with a 6.3” display, 3.2x larger area.

Apple sells cheaper iPhones that are still much more capable than original iPhone in every way. The point, iPhones today are so much more than we had, and even though in general component costs have dropped in those 22 years, because the phones are much more the cost of components to build these modern phones is twice as much.

Tidbit: iPhone 17 Pro is estimated to be 7x faster than a fully loaded Mac Pro from 2007.
 
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Anyone remember when you could buy a decked-out iPhone for $700 fifteen years ago? The base iPhones were like $400. And even back then people thought this was crazy expensive.
$700 15 years ago is the same as $1,050 now. Welcome to inflation.

iPhones have been $999 since the iPhone X and prices haven’t increased since. Get a grip.
 
The amount of people these days that STILL don't realise American prices do not include the VAT is astounding. If you think you can walk into a US Apple store and pick up an iPhone for $999 you'll be getting a shock when you get to the till...well, unless you're in Vegas which I believe you don't pay tax unless I'm mistaken?
Im pretty sure you still pay taxes in Las Vegas. The interesting thing is that at certain time of the year like now, in many states you can buy products tax free because it’s back to school time.
 
Im pretty sure you still pay taxes in Las Vegas. The interesting thing is that at certain time of the year like now, in many states you can buy products tax free because it’s back to school time.
Vegas has taxes, like everywhere in the US.

Tax free is a total gimmick and has price caps of like $100. You can’t buy an iPhone or anything good because of it.

Uncle Sam will always steal their cut to redistribute on nonsense.
 
This is useless if they don’t do a 2TB storage tier
I need to know if I am skipping this year or not
Honest question: Why does one need 2TB? Are you shooting long high res videos? Lots of slow-mo videos? If so, isn't it very risky to have the video on the phone without backup?
 
OTOH, I’m in Canada, so we are not necessarily subject to the same US-centric tariffs so I’m not sure what type of price increases there would be in Canada.

Hard to say. Apple could use price increases worldwide to cover US tariff costs to keep US prices lower, should the want to limit price increases in the U S, for example.
 
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It’s called balancing design language. Without it upper part of the phone would feels to heavy cuz of new cam module design
Then maybe the new camera module design was a bad idea. Because that is one fugly, busy-looking phone. Enough to prevent me from buying one.
 
& surely those in the US additionally pay a local sales tax? That, unlike UK & EU prices which are net of VAT, is never mentioned.
Which varies by jurisdiction, some areas pay 0 and others much more. 6-7% seems about the average, so an iPhone may cost ~70$ more on average.
 
I don't believe it. Technically they're rising Pro's base price but at the same time it'd be cheaper than every 256gb (small) Pro iPhone ever released since they cost $1099.

They'd rather get rid of 128gb and have $1099 256gb as a base Pro iPhone or they do $1149/1199

But not gonna lie, it'd be nice if they priced 256gb 17 Pro $1049
 
Vegas has taxes, like everywhere in the US.

Tax free is a total gimmick and has price caps of like $100. You can’t buy an iPhone or anything good because of it.

Uncle Sam will always steal their cut to redistribute on nonsense.
The $100 is for clothing and school supplies. computers are $750, $1000, $1500 depending on the state.
 
Hiking up storage and prices and the customer is happy! 🤔

It's like asking the used car dealer for a price reduction and he answers:
"No way pal, but i throw in a set of rubber floor mats for free!1111eleven1!"

🤣 🤣 🤣
 
Vegas has taxes, like everywhere in the US.

Tax free is a total gimmick and has price caps of like $100. You can’t buy an iPhone or anything good because of it.

Uncle Sam will always steal their cut to redistribute on nonsense.
Vegas does have sales tax, 8.375% and maybe even higher in certain areas "Resort Corridor". However, some states like Oregon have zero sales tax.
 
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