Prices of Apple’s upcoming iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max might go up, according to Bloomberg. The starting price of the iPhone Pro model has been set at $999 since the launch of the iPhone 11 Pro in 2018, and Apple is now planning to take it up a notch to boost its smartphone sales revenue, reports indicate.
While Apple plans to produce over 85 million iPhone 15 units this year, it ordered 90 million units of the iPhone 14 from its suppliers in 2022. Despite similar figures, Apple’s smartphone sale revenue will increase, owing to the higher starting prices, said Bloomberg.
Another report from 9to5mac suggests that the entry-level iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Plus will continue to cost the same as their predecessors, priced at $799 and $899, respectively.
Apple is also reported to have issues with the production of the iPhone 15 series due to display panels, which could limit the availability of the newer iPhones at launch. The company is also said to scrap the additional 6 million iPhone 14 series order due to the speculated 3.2 per cent decline in global smartphone shipments.
As per these reports, the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max will be the last premium smartphones from Apple to start at $999 and $1,099, respectively.
iPhones are the biggest revenue generator for the company and this price hike is likely to help the brand increase revenue.
During the February 2023 earnings call, Tim Cook indicated a possible price hike for the upcoming iPhone Pro models when he said, “I think people are willing to really stretch to get the best they can afford in that category”.