[nowooski]

It's pretty wild that Apple has held prices down the last few years in the face of elevated inflation. I decided to calculate the inflation-adjusted price of every iPhone ever, and the 15 line are some of the most affordable (in 2023 dollars).

Full table and charts are here: https://www.perfectrec.com/posts/iPhone15-price

But the take aways are: - iPhone 15 is cheapest base model since the OG iPhone in 2007 - 15 Plus is cheapest large iPhone ever - 15 Pro is cheapest pro ever (and $250 cheaper than the first Pro model, the iPhone X).

[gnicholas]

The cost of inputs has gone down. What has happened to the cost of storage and RAM (both commodities, I assume) over the last several years? They're still shipping "Pro" iPhones — that cost as much as a computer — with 128GB. That's one way to keep costs down, and to goose the demand for Apple's iCloud backup service.

[dan-robertson]

If people back up most of what’s on their phones, won’t people with more storage also want more space for backups? What things in your mind (other than apps/games) would take up a lot of space on a phone and not be backed up? Or do you suppose they wouldn’t be backed up to iCloud?

[jbc1]

With Apple's margins I doubt they're using a cost plus pricing model.

[rajnathani]

Also, over the years they might have also been able to make their supply-chain operations a couple or so percent more cost-efficient each year.

[faeriechangling]

The iPhone is improving less and less generationally and faces stiff competition. Regarding the regular iPhone, I haven't seen Apple be this far back in display tech in such an expensive product since 2017 when the MacBook Air was still using a 1440x900 display.

The pricing of the 15 pro is pretty remarkable to me considering apple is paying for titanium and 3nm silicon this time around. It's also interesting how Apple has knocked down the price of the Pro and SE models every generation.

[xpe]

> The iPhone is improving less and less

it is hard to buck the S-curve : https://www.open.edu/openlearn/nature-environment/organisati...

[fnord77]

> apple is paying for titanium

only the outer trim is titanium, the frame is still aluminum

[Synaesthesia]

For people in the US yes, overseas they are famously overpriced. Here in South Africa the cost of an iPhone is ridiculous.

[TimCTRL]

You could buy a 50x100 plot of land here in East Africa

[_thisdot]

Same in India, what makes it worse is the taxation. You end up paying $1000+ for the $799 iPhone. And $1000 is a lot of money. You can live a comfortable life in a tier 2 city with $500 a month. PPP adjusted, $1000 in US is around $4000 in India.

In fact, someone proved that it is sometimes cheaper to fly to and back from Dubai and buy a pro model from there than buying it directly in India.

[legulere]

Another perspective is that apple managed to keep prices more or less at the same level, while it has become more and more a medium-range product: there’s not even the current chip anymore and only USB2.0

[roger_]

The new base Pro Max is the same price as the equivalent previous model: https://www.macrumors.com/2023/09/12/iphone-15-pro-pricing/

They basically eliminated the lower 128GB model.

[sosodev]

Right? Considering USB-C and the fact that they moved most of the pro features into the base model it seems like a great time to upgrade from an older model.

[SeanAnderson]

Hah. Hi Wally! Or, rather, I assume this is him.

I found myself reading your post, then was like, "Oh hey I know someone who came to this conclusion already... oh shit, they're linking to PerfectRec? Oh shit, I think it's Wally on HN!"

Hope you are well :)

[sillysaurusx]

Hey Sean! I don’t have a clue who you are, but I wanted to say hello with everyone else! Have a good week!

[nowooski]

Hey Sean! Hope all is well. Glad the take was at least memorable enough you did a double take. :-)

[M3L0NM4N]

I did the same thing, except I know Wally because I follow him on Twitter. To be honest, I don't even know what he looks like.

[goldenjm]

Hi Sean! Nice to see you here! :)

[WheatMillington]

Technology always gets cheaper, pretty wild to think otherwise.

[Gud]

No they don't. Sometimes societies stagnate and things become shit expensive.

[seizethecheese]

The phones are officially loss leaders for the service businesses.

[dev_tty01]

Not true. Apple is super disciplined about profit margins. Each business has to be sustainable on its own and each product sells with a hefty margin or is doesn't make the cut.

[fdsafdsa32va]

nope, the phones are very profitable.

[paint]

Apple phones are a lot more expensive than android phones of similar specs