Given Apple is reportedly going to cut the charger from iPhone 12 boxes, you might expect a lower iPhone 12 price for this year’s handset.
Well, you might want to prepare for disappointment if the market research company TrendForce is correct in its estimates.
The company’s new report on the smartphone market includes predictions for the price of the iPhone 12 series. You can see the full table below, but the bottom line is that prices start at $699 to $749 for the basic iPhone 12, and go all the way up to $1,149 to $1,199 for the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
A report from TrendForce predicts the iPhone 12 price
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To put that into perspective, it’s a $50 to $100 price increase on the cost of the current models. Should you be mad enough to buy a new iPhone on the eve of a new release, Apple will still sell you an iPhone 11 for $699, an iPhone 11 Pro for $999 or an iPhone 11 Pro Max for $1,099. So while the report suggests that Apple could keep basic iPhone prices the same, it looks like you’ll be paying a premium for the premium models.
In some respects, this shouldn’t come as a surprise if other predictions are correct. All four models are set to come with 5G modems, and each one will also get an OLED panel – which was previously exclusive to the top-end iPhones. These upgrades aren’t free.
On the other hand, this report bucks the general trend of analyst predictions, which tend to suggest Apple will aim to keep prices static this year. The case for doing so is strong: not only will the company reportedly be saving cash by not bundling a charger, the company has also apparently found a new battery design that’ll cost less than previous generations to manufacture. And from both a business and reputational sense, raising the cost of a luxury item during a pandemic with unprecedented job losses feels risky.
We don’t have long to wait to find out how the company will pitch the iPhone 12 price. Apple is expected to unveil the phone and Apple Watch Series 6 at its annual September event. There was talk of this being pushed back for pandemic related reasons, but the latest rumor is that this will go ahead as planned, although the release of the actual products may be a touch delayed.
