The cost of the components that go into the iPhone 15 Pro Max is up significantly when compared to its predecessor, according to an analysis of the various parts that make up Apple’s latest smartphone.
The change helps justify the jump in price for this model.
Breakdown of Bill of Materials for iPhone 15 Pro Max
The iPhone 15 Pro Max includes a range of improvements over its predecessor. That includes a lightweight titanium chassis and slim screen bezels, plus the camera with a Tetraprism design fulfills the pre-launch reports of a periscope lens that offers 5x optical zoom. Both components add to the price tag.
Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Fomalhaut Techno Solutions did a tear down of Apple’s new top-of-the-line model, and found that the Bill of Materials is higher than ever before. The BoM is $558 — up more than 10% over the iPhone 14 Pro Max, according to Nikkei (via AppleInsider).
The titanium chassis is 43% more expensive than the earlier version. The screen is always a a significant pert of the cost of a handset, and the new Pro Max’s costs 10% more. And a real change of the camera: it’s estimated to cost 3.8 times more than last year’s.
The BoM allegedly totals 47% of the selling price of the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
The rise in component costs should help ease any unhappiness among consumers that the model went up in price by $100 in the U.S. when compared to the 2022 model.
iPhone 15 costs Apple more to make
Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Fomalhaut Techno Solutions also analyzed the cost for the components for other new Apple handsets. The iPhone 15 Pro BOM is estimated to be $523, while the iPhone 15 Plus is $442 and the iPhone 15 is $423. All of these are up between 8% and 16% year over year, depending on the model, but the U.S. selling price for any of these did not go up.
The difference between the BoM and the selling price is not Apple’s profit margin. The cost of the components doesn’t include the actually assembly of the handset in either China or India.
Plus, the bill of materials doesn’t cover Apple employee salaries, advertising and other costs. Research and development on the hardware is not included. Also, the BoM doesn’t include software — iPhone sales (with some help from iPad) must cover all the expenses for developing iOS and its bundled software.
