14 DAY TRIAL // Everybody knows that new iPhones are supposed to see daylight in September, and the closer we get to their official launch, the more information emerges on the 2020 lineup.
Needless to say, the rumor mill includes all kinds of details, from technical specs to the prices that Apple has in mind for the new iPhones.
As it happens every year, many of us are waiting to see if Apple makes the new iPhones more expensive than their predecessors, something that’s totally possible given the Cupertino-based tech giant has always asked for a premium.
On the other hand, in the last few years, Apple has tried, and it sometimes managed, to retain the price points of the older models when launching new iPhones, which is pretty important given that the top-of-the-range models already go well beyond the $1,000 threshold.
In 2020, however, doing this is a lot more difficult, simply because this year’s launch is a massive one. And Apple wants not only to keep the iPhone prices untouched but also to maintain its profit margin.
So Apple doesn’t want to make the 2020 iPhones more expensive than the 2019 iPhones despite the addition of new tech and hardware upgrades, and at the same time make as much money as before per each unit sold.
To do this, the Cupertino-based tech giant is ready to make some decisions that could change the smartphone market once and for all. One such idea concerns the accessories that come in the box of the new iPhone, as it’s believed that Apple could even remove the charger in an attempt to keep the price at a lower level. Without a charger, customers would just have to pay extra for such an accessory, unless they already own one from a previous-generation iPhone.
But at the end of the day, the iPhone 12 could still end up being more expensive than its predecessors.
And it’s all because of the addition of 5G.
5G support is something that already increases the price of the smartphones out there (for example, Samsung is selling the Galaxy S10, which is a 2019 model, from $799 in the United States with 512GB of storage, while the same configuration with 5G is available from $1,149), and while Apple is trying to deal with this using all kinds of gimmicks, such as the one mentioned above, there’s a chance all these efforts wouldn’t be enough.
Apple wants to offer 5G support across the entire lineup, even on the most affordable model. This year, the cheapest iPhone will be the new iPhone 12 with a 5.4-inch screen, and despite coming with a smaller screen than the iPhone 11, it could actually be more expensive than the 2019 model.
Again, the 5G support is the one to blame, and people familiar with Apple’s plans previously suggested that the device could start at $749. iPhone 11 is available from $699.
Interestingly enough, some people previously suggested that Apple even considered making 4G versions of the iPhones it launches this year, and these were supposed to be sold in countries where 5G support isn’t available. The idea was pretty much the same: offer the new iPhones at lower prices, and the lack of 5G allowed Apple to do this easily.
At the end of the day, the addition of 5G is quite a big deal for Apple, not only in terms of new iPhone capabilities but also as far as the price of the device is concerned.
We’ll find out how Apple managed to deal with all of these in just a couple of months, as the 2020 iPhones should be announced in September, with sales to kick off for at least some models a few weeks later.