Is the iPhone 15 Ultra overpriced?

Earlier this week, we saw the iPhone 15 Ultra pricing leak. A report suggested that the flagship iPhone 15 model would be priced from around $1,299 – a full $200 more expensive than the current entry model iPhone 14 Pro Max.

However, when I reported on the news, I suggested that this was really only a $100 price hike, as the iPhone 15 Ultra is rumoured to start with 256GB of storage. That's a $100 upgrade on the Pro Max, which is baked straight into the price of its successor.

And that still seems to make sense. But there is no getting around the fact that a $1,299 phone in the current economic climate is a luxury. So, the question is: is the iPhone 15 Ultra too expensive?

You get what you pay for...

My gut reaction is no. The leaked pricing suggests that it will be expensive, but I don't think you can say it's too expensive, particularly when other flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra cost roughly the same.

What's more, when we consider that this handset is likely to mark the biggest change to the iPhone in years – with a titanium frame and a 3nm processor rumoured to be on the spec sheet – I think we should be heralding Apple for keeping the cost as low as it is. Titanium is around 35 times more expensive than stainless steel, for example.

If you're reading this and thinking "that's all well and good, but it's still too expensive for a phone," I think the solution is more about which phone you're buying. The fact is that hardly anyone needs a top-spec iPhone. The vast majority of users just want to be able to make calls and texts, get onto social media channels and play the odd game to pass the time.

If that sounds like you, a $1,300 iPhone probably isn't necessary. There are droves of cheap phones which are more than capable of handling those tasks at a fraction of the price. Take a look at the Nothing Phone (1) if you want one with an iPhone-y aesthetic, too.