When Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone in 2007, mobile phones were still stupid and had buttons to operate them. Nokia dominated the sales charts and, with the N95, had a high-end model on offer that was well above the average price at 550 euros. Apple started the smartphone revolution with 400 euros. Two years later, the price rose to 520 euros, and the following year an iPhone 4 cost 630 euros in Germany. In 2012, Apple charged 50 euros more for the iPhone 5, and another 20 euros for the 5s the following year. The price of now 700 euros remained unchanged for the iPhone 6, the newly introduced large Plus model was available at a surcharge of 100 euros. Up to the iPhone 8, the price increased by a further 100 euros, with the Plus models costing between 110 and 160 euros more.
More pro, more money
In 2017, Apple established the Pro model series with the iPhone X – the first model with Face ID – parallel to the iPhone 8 and set the price at 1,150 euros. The following year, Apple scaled up the new design to the iPhone XS Max and again increased the price (like the Plus models) by 100 euros. Surprisingly, there has been no change in the prices for the two Pro models since then – apart from 2020, the first corona year in which the temporary reduction in VAT from 19 to 16 percent also slightly reduced iPhone prices.
For the sake of completeness: In 2013, Apple presented the first “cheap” iPhone. However, the iPhone 5c with a plastic housing cost only 100 euros less than the updated iPhone 5s at 600 euros. In 2016, Apple repeated the attempt at an entry-level iPhone and pushed the price of the iPhone SE just under the 500 euro mark (for comparison: the iPhone 7 in the same year cost 740 euros). The successor model was even 10 euros cheaper in the Corona year 2020, only to increase to 520 euros two years later with the iPhone SE 3.
forecast
In the editorial office we agree: the prices will rise. And for all models! The overall global situation, rising energy prices and stagnant supply chains will not leave Apple unscathed this year. However, we do not agree on the amount of the price adjustments. One corner says a flat rate of 100 euros for each model, 50 euros for the “normal” iPhones and 100 euros for the Pro iPhones from the other. What do you mean? How will prices develop for the upcoming iPhone 14?