Who’s ready for price hikes on iPhone 14 Pro models as future devices could cost $100 more than their iPhone 13 Pro counterparts?
- What is happening? Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives predicted in a new research note to clients that the flagship iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models could cost $100 more as component prices rose.
- Why care? Even wealthy Apple customers and people with disposable incomes will not be willing to pay more for these future phones, especially in the face of inflation and a looming recession that is eroding people’s purchasing power.
- What to do? Vote with your wallet (you may have to sell your kind).
iPhone 14 Pro price increase predicted
“While the base iPhone will remain at the same price, we believe a $100 price increase for the iPhone 14 Pros is likely to happen in-store given the component price increases as well as additional features in this new release.” says Quince’s note seen by MacRumors.
If the iPhone 14 Pro models end up $100 more expensive, as the analyst predicted, buyers on a budget would be wise to consider one of the non-professional models.
By comparison, the iPhone 13 Pro starts at $999 in the US, while the base model iPhone 13 Pro Max starts at $1,099.
Hollywood camera in your pocket
But if you really want “Hollywood in your pocket”as Apple’s ad for the iPhone 13 Pro says, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are expected to bring Apple’s biggest smartphone camera leap.
Better cameras aside, the iPhone 14 Pro should be powered by Apple’s latest A16 Bionic chip, replacing the notch with a combination of a pill-shaped notch for the TrueDepth camera system and a circular cutout to house the selfie camera.
More than $$$? More memory? Or both?
According to Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple’s most trusted analyst, both Pro iPhone 14 models should have a new 48-megapixel main sensor on the back capable of capturing 8K video. The new sensor is said to make the already massive camera bump even more prominent.
Kuo also recently suggested that the iPhone 14 Pro models could be more expensive than their iPhone 13 Pro counterparts, but didn’t say by how much. On the other hand, the iPhone maker can reassure customers by doubling the base storage on the iPhone 14 Pro.
When will Apple introduce the iPhone 14 family?
Apple has yet to officially announce a date for the iPhone 14 event. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman claims to have learned from his usually well-informed sources that both the iPhone 14 family and the new Apple Watch Series 8 models will be unveiled three weeks from today, Thursday. September 7th.
Retail sale is due to start next week, on Friday, September 16th. Gurman says it will be another online presentation and not an in-person event.