At $799, the entry level iPhone 15 shares the same starting price as the past three models.
The world’s most valuable company, now worth some $2.75 trillion, on Tuesday unveiled four new models:
- iPhone 15 ($799 – $1099)
- iPhone 15 Plus ($899 – $1199)
- iPhone 15 Pro ($999 – $1499)
- iPhone 15 Pro Max ($1199 – $1599)
What has changed?
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will use last year’s A16 Bionic chip, while the iPhone 15 Pro and the Pro Max will be powered by the new 3nm process, A17 Pro chip.
The biggest change this year is how the phones will be charged. To comply with European legislation, Apple has adopted the USB-C charging standard, replacing the existing Lightning port. The new cable should improve data transfer speeds and help consumers cut down on having to buy different chargers for different devices.
How much more expensive are today’s iPhones?
The tradition of presenting the newest iPhones each year has continued since the late Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, announced the first iPhone in 2007. The era-defining piece of technology has become the world’s most popular smartphone and Apple’s best-selling product.
The first iPhone released retailed at a whopping $499. However, the following year, Apple’s revamp of the iPhone 3G was far more affordable at $199.
The prices of iPhones stayed steady after the 2009 release of the iPhone 3GS. That was until the release of the iPhone 5c which hit the market in 2013 with more vibrant colours and a friendlier $99 price tag. The product marked the cheapest iPhone in history.
With gradually increasing prices and the market’s need for a tech-filled phone, iPhone prices climbed up the ladder since the rollout of the Plus models–the bigger and more expensive silhouette designed to carry a bigger screen.
It wasn’t until 2017 that Apple surprisingly released the new iPhone X and brought the prices of iPhones to new heights. The $999 price tag was formidable for many, but more started to adapt.
At $799, the entry-level iPhone 15 shares the same starting price as the past three models, from the iPhone 12 (2020) to the iPhone 14 (2022).
The table below compares all the prices of the entry-level and top flagship models from 2007 to 2023.