This Year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max Could See a $200 Price Increase

Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, set to debut later this year, will likely be priced $100 to $200 more than the Cupertino company’s current iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models, says analyst Tim Long, or British bank Barclays. Long says he is basing his price estimates on conversations he’s had with Asian supply chain companies.

In a research note shared Wednesday by MacRumors Long said the iPhone 15 Pro could be priced at a $100 premium over the price of the iPhone 14 Pro, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max may see a $100 to $200 price hike over the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s base price. Long believes pricing will remain the same for the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models.

If Long is correct, U.S. pricing for the iPhone 15 lineup could be:

• iPhone 15: $799 (No change)
• iPhone 15 Plus: $899 (No change)
• iPhone 15 Pro: Up to $1,099 (Increased from $999)
• iPhone 15 Pro Max: Up to $1,299 (Increased from $1,099)

Long’s expectations jibe with other reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and Jeff Pu of Haitong International. Gurman said that Apple is “considering” raising the price for this year’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, with “unnamed people familiar with the matter,” telling them that while there is expected to be a decline in smartphone sales, Apple has plans to increase its overall revenue by hiking the price of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Meanwhile, Pu believes that the higher component cost for features like the new periscope lens system will force Apple to raise the selling prices to compensate.

In May, we saw a rumor claiming the iPhone maker would use pricing as a way to set apart the standard and Pro devices since the standard models will likely gain a number of formerly “Pro-only” features – including Dynamic Island and a 48-megapixel camera.

Twitter user “RGcloudS” on Tuesday tweeted (X’ed?) that the iPhone 15 lineup will feature a glass-plastic hybrid lens with an ƒ/1.7 aperture, featuring a single glass element and six plastic elements. The wide camera used across this year’s iPhone 14 lineup uses seven plastic lenses.

Other rumors suggest the iPhone 15 Pro Max will also sport an upgraded telephoto lens with 5-6x zoom periscope technology. The iPhone 14 Pro models have 3x zoom. Long says the periscope lens will likely add around $50 to the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s manufacturing costs, meaning it could be partially responsible for the handset’s price hike.

Keep in mind that any price estimates for upcoming iPhone models should always be taken with a grain of salt substitute, as we can’t be sure of any price hikes until Apple debuts the iPhone 15 lineup along with its pricing.

September is the traditional month for Apple’s press event where it unveils the new iPhone lineup (and the new Apple Watch lineup), and this year shouldn’t be any different, although there have been recent rumors of delays due to display-related manufacturing issues for the iPhone 15 Pro lineup.

We expect to see several upgrades in the iPhone 15 Pro lineup, including a faster A17 Bionic chip, increased RAM, a new titanium frame, thinner display bezels, a USB-C port, a customizable Action button, WiFi 6E support, and more. The rumored price increases could be connected to the new features, as well as the market’s inflationary price pressure. Any price increase would be the first for the most expensive iPhone models since the iPhone X ushered in the higher $999 “Pro” price point in 2017.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]