The iPhone 15 rumor mill has been pointing to a price hike for Apple's upcoming smartphone range for months, but now a leading industry voice has all but confirmed those fears.
Prominent analyst Dan Ives of investment firm Wedbush Securities told CNBC this week that the average selling price for Apple's next-generation iPhones will increase, which translates to a higher price tag for the iPhone 15 line compared to current models. The iPhone 14 saw a price increase in international markets, a fact that was also leaked ahead of time by Ives, but stateside prices remained the same.
It seems like U.S. customers won't be so fortunate this time around, though. Prices for everything are going up, and Apple isn't immune to that. One Twitter leaker predicts the cost of making an iPhone 15 is rising by 12% compared to the last generation, while manufacturing costs for the iPhone 15 Pro are reportedly climbing even more, with a 20% increase.
As noted by Forbes, a slew of industry analysts and insiders warn we could see price hikes of up to $200, with the premium iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models anticipated to see the largest increases. Ives didn't provide exact figures, so it remains unclear exactly how much sticker shock U.S. customers can expect. Also unclear is whether international customers can expect prices to rise yet again, as they did for the iPhone 14.
Even with the anticipated price increase, Ives still gave a rosy forecast for the iPhone 15's rollout and, by extension, Apple's stock prices. He told CNBC the iPhone 15 series may be one of Apple's biggest sellers ever, in part because there are 250 million iPhone units that are more than four years old still in use, which could translate to a big wave of upgrades once the iPhone 15 series drops. That's likely to be sometime this September given Apple's typical release schedule.
Among other announcements at this year's WWDC 2023, including the long-rumored Apple Vision Pro AR headset, was that iOS 17 compatible devices will go all the way back to the iPhone XS and iPhone XR, models that predate the iPhone 11 series. But even with these device owners anticipating another year of full software support from Apple, the iPhone 15's rumored hardware upgrades, like a powerful A16 chipset and USB-C charging, may be enough to convince some users to upgrade nonetheless. That is, if Apple's famously loyal userbase isn't turned off by the higher price tag.
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