Apple may raise iPhone 14 prices this year, with the baseline iPhone 14 expected to start at $749, or $50 less than the 128GB iPhone 13 which starts at $799.
- What’s happening? TrendForce has estimated that the entry-level iPhone 14 could start at $749 ($1,149 for a base model of the iPhone 14 Pro Max).
- Why care? Analysts expect the upcoming phones to cost an extra $100 due to costlier parts, but TrendForce suggests the price hike could be more modest.
- What to do? If you’re on an iPhone XS or older, consider upgrading to an iPhone 14 to enjoy significantly improved cameras and other enhancements.
TrendForce calls a modest iPhone 14 price increase
There will be two 6.1-inch and two 6.7-inch models in the iPhone 14 family (the 5.7-inch iPhone mini will be discontinued). But how much will they cost? Market intelligence company TrendForce has forecast the following price points across all baseline models in the iPhone 14 family.
iPhone 14 prices: TrendForce’s updated forecast
- 256GB iPhone 14: $749
- 256GB iPhone 14 Max: $849
- 256GB iPhone 14 Pro: $1,049
- 256GB iPhone 14 Pro Max: $1,149
iPhone 13 prices:
- 128GB iPhone 13 mini: $699
- 128GB iPhone 13: $799
- 128GB iPhone 13 Pro: $999
- 128GB iPhone 13 Pro Max: $1,099
TrendForce explains that a combination of new hardware features and costlier components will force Apple to push iPhone 14 prices up.
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models should increase the RAM to LPDDR5 6GB, swap the main wide camera for a new 48-megapixel shooter, replace the notch with a pill and punch-hole design and so on. The biggest unknown is the amount of storage, with TrendForce claiming 256GB will be the new 128GB.
Will there be a price hike or not?
This rumor was started by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who thinks the average selling price of the iPhone 14 Pros might increase by about fifteen percent versus the iPhone 13 Pros, which start at $999/$1,099 in the United States.
Piggy-backing on Kuo’s report, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives made a prediction calling for a $100 price increase for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.
This had people speculating that Apple could double the base storage on the iPhone 14 Pros to appease would-be buyers. The suggestion isn’t without merit. As flash storage prices decrease, Apple typically increases the amount of iPhone storage without raising prices. Read: 30 ways to free storage space on your Mac
But with the global chip shortage and increasing component prices, there’s no guarantee the iPhone 14 will double the storage to offset the price hike.
As mentioned earlier, the source of the double-the-storage rumor is TrendForce, which back in June predicted that the iPhone 14 Pros would ship with 256 gigabytes of base storage instead of 128. Read: Tips for freeing up your iCloud storage