The iPhone 15 Pro Max is the only model in this year’s lineup to receive a $100 price hike, while Apple managed to keep the remaining three unchanged from becoming more expensive. With this change, customers also receive 256GB for the base model, along with an exclusive periscope zoom camera. With these upgrades, research firm TrendForce believes that Apple’s 6.7-inch flagship is reasonably priced given the economy and provides its shipping estimates and details for the remainder of the year.
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max to account for 60 percent of all new shipments this year
On X, TrendForce immediately recognizes the 256GB storage and periscope camera upgrades, implying that despite these improvements, the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts from $1,199, with the iPhone 15 Pro with 128GB starting from $999, which is the same price as last year. There were rumors doing the rounds, claiming that Apple might be forced to raise the price by up to $200, and just like last year, the technology giant managed to put all of that noise to rest by only making the iPhone 15 Pro Max expensive.
TrendForce notes that around 80 million iPhone 15 units are expected to ship this year, with 60 percent of those numbers covered by the ‘Pro’ models. While that is a decent figure, the research firm warns that a strong U.S. dollar might affect a consumer’s purchasing decision in overseas markets, particularly China, which accounts for up to 25 percent of the company’s sales. The new data also mentions that there is a 5 percent projected year-over-year decline in iPhone shipments, indicating that had the economy not been in its current state, those shipments may have been higher.
“Apple’s latest product launch largely aligns with TrendForce’s predictions. Although the price of the iPhone 15 Pro Max was increased by US$100, it also received upgrades in NAND capacity (256GB) and a periscope-style lens. This pricing seems reasonable given the current weak economy. Unfortunately, the strong US dollar might affect consumer enthusiasm due to the differences in currency exchange in overseas sales regions. Furthermore, the Chinese market has always been one of the main focal points for Apple, accounting for 20-25% of the brand's sales.
With Huawei’s recent flagship series launch, combined with the Chinese government's restrictions on iPhone usage, there might be a shift in consumer demand away from the iPhone. #TrendForce estimates that production shipments of this year's new models will be around 80 million units, with the Pro series potentially accounting for up to 60% of that. As for the annual forecast, there's a projected 5% YoY decline, and further downward revisions have not been ruled out.”
Apart from getting twice the storage of the iPhone 15 Pro and a 5x optical zoom upgrade, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is also powered by a 3nm A17 Pro SoC, 8GB of RAM, upgraded cameras, a titanium alloy chassis, Wi-Fi 6E, a USB-C port with a 10Gbps throughput, and these are all the improvements that we know of. With more changes underneath the hood, our own take is that Apple significantly bumped up the upgrade list this year, and for a $100 price difference, some consumers might believe that a purchase is worth the trouble.
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