Price and Capacity Increases

One of the most delightful surprises this year was that Apple hasn’t increased the pricing of any of its iPhone 16 models. The rumor mill had made some folks nervous that the iPhone 16 Pro models would get a higher price tag, but the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max still start at the same $999 and $1,199 price points as their predecessors.

Last year, Apple dropped the 128 GB iPhone 15 Pro Max, raising the entry price for those who wanted the largest flagship model. That wasn’t technically a price increase, as the 256 GB version sold for the same price as all the second-tier models before it, all the way back to the iPhone XS Max. However, it did eliminate the more affordable Max option.

Some believed it would repeat that with the iPhone 16 Pro, but $999 remains a “sweet spot” in the pricing game — one that Apple isn’t willing to abandon. While we hear rumors of price increases each year, usually from analysts crunching Apple’s supply chain costs, the company somehow manages to avoid them. The 128 GB iPhone 16 Pro starts at the same $999 price tag as the iPhone X did seven years ago with half the storage.