Premium smartphones are expensive as-is and with a good many of us already grappling with economic frustrations caused by the pandemic, we are really not looking forward to a price increase for the
iPhone 14, but it looks to be on the cards.
The iPhone 13’s price starts at $699 for the 5.4-inch iPhone 13 mini, the base 6.1-inch iPhone 13 goes for $799, the entry-level iPhone 13 Pro costs $999, and the iPhone 13 Pro Max retails for $1,099.
The mini model will not be refreshed, meaning the opening model this year will be the 6.1-inch iPhone 14, so the starting price will likely increase to $799. Conflicting rumors have been flying about the iPhone 14 family’s price, with some saying they
will be increased, and one claiming they will
remain intact.
Prepare to pay $1,099 and $1,199 for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, respectively
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives (via
MacRumors) believes that the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro and the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max will be $100 more expensive than their predecessors.
While the base iPhone will stay at the same price we believe a $100 price increase on the iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max is likely in store given component price increases as well as added functionality on this new release.”
This partially aligns with the picture painted by a couple of earlier leaks, of which one said to expect a $100 price hike and the second one indicated that the
average selling price would rise by 15 percent because of the costlier Pro models.
As some reports had cautioned, Apple is going to pass on the higher cost of producing phones to consumers. Another reason is that the Pros are expected to feature a higher resolution main camera and a
new front design with pill-shaped and hole cutouts and apparently Apple has decided this warrants a price increase.
Despite what a leak had suggested, the iPhone 14 Pro will likely
still start with 128GB of storage, so it doesn’t look like Apple is planning to do anything to soften the blow.
The Pro models will allegedly be armed with the new A16 Bionic chip and could feature faster RAM and always-on display tech.
As for the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 and 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max, Apple will apparently only make minimal updates to them and the highlights will presumably be an improved selfie camera, which will be standard across the lineup, and more base RAM.
It is looking increasingly likely that the standard models will start at $799, and per an earlier report, declining smartphone shipments are the reason behind this decision. Apparently, Apple thinks that entry-level price has a bigger impact on demand, so it doesn’t want to mess with it.
If you read between the lines, a clear pattern has emerged after the pandemic: the rich class is still splurging on luxuries, but regular folks are getting squeezed and cutting back on spending. It goes without saying that the Pros will be geared at well-to-do consumers and Apple is actually
expecting strong demand. So, despite their higher prices, they will likely still make it to the
best phones of 2022 list.
