Contrary to rumors, research firm TrendForce thinks Apple will not hike the iPhone 15 Pro’s price. Instead, only the Pro Max model will see a price bump.
The Taiwanese firm predicts the iPhone 15 Pro Max will start at $1,199, a $100 increase from the 2022 model.
iPhone 15 Pro could continue to start at $999
As for the smaller iPhone 15 Pro, TrendForce says it will cost the same $999 before taxes. With the iPhone 15 Pro Max expected to exclusively employe a new periscope lens, the higher retail price will justify the production cost differences between the two models.
The research firm also claims that Apple will not bump the storage on iPhone Pro models this year. So, the entry-level configuration will continue to offer 128GB of storage, with 256GB, 512GB and 1TB options available.
In its report, TrendForce further says the iPhone 15 Pro series will ship with 8GB LPDDR5 RAM. This contradicts a recent leak that indicated the amount of RAM will remain unchanged on the new Pro phones.
iPhone 15 Pro to outsell non-Pro models this year
TrendForce estimates that the iPhone 15 Pro series will account for 60% of the total production of the new iPhones. The firm predicts a higher demand for the series despite the higher price tag of the Pro Max, calling them a “consumer magnet.”
Apple has seen higher demand for its iPhone Pro models in recent quarters. Despite this, TrendForce estimates that iPhone sales for the year will decline by 5% YoY to between 220 million and 225 million. This is being attributed to a slowdown in smartphone sales and Huawei’s strong comeback in China. The Chinese government’s recent ban on the use of iPhones by its officials is also likely to play a role here.
