Apple is expected by analysts to raise prices by as much as $100 for some updated models of its flagship device when it unveils the iPhone 15 at an annual promotional event set for Tuesday. Those new iPhone Pro models are expected to include titanium casing, significantly improved processors, and cutting edge camera features.
née Pro Max) rendering based on CAD. (imagevia @UniverseIce)
Aaron Tilley for The Wall Street Journal:
The move to steer consumers to premium models has worked phenomenally for Apple in recent years, boosting revenue and profit even when the number of devices sold has been stagnant. Potential price increases will help pay for growing component costs because of inflation, but some analysts have warned that the strategy will soon hit a ceiling.
“The Pros have probably reached their saturation point,” said Josh Lowitz, a co-founder of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. “I don’t think there are a ton of new iPhone Pro customers.”
MacDailyNews Take: “Probably.” (smirking so hard our faces hurt)
You know, because nobody ever gets born, graduates college, gets a new job, so how could there be “a ton of new iPhone Pro customers?”
As Apple prepares for the iPhone 15 launch, its challenge will be to convince customers that the Pro features are enough to warrant a pricey upgrade.
“It’s becoming harder and harder for consumers to distinguish what the new Pro features are,” said Michael Gartenberg, a senior director on Apple’s marketing team before leaving in 2016, who is now an independent technology adviser. “For most users, the iPhone 13 is going to be good enough, and the base iPhone camera takes good enough pictures.”
MacDailyNews Take: Whatever Apple did to Michael Gartenberg, it was a doozy. Dude lost at least 50 IQ points since his departure from the mothership.
Consumers not named Michael Gartenberg can easily distinguish what the new Pro features are because they’re not mentally deficient.
In addition to the incremental upgrades in processors and cameras, analysts expect the new iPhone Pros will have titanium casing for a lighter feel than standard stainless-steel iPhones.
MacDailyNews Take: The first 3nm SoCs in a smartphone are not “incremental.” Nor is the first periscope camera lens in an iPhone. The titanium is not just for weight, but also for durability; again, not “incremental.”
Apple began its journey into higher priced Pro iPhones four years ago… As the years progressed, Apple has added more ways to distinguish its higher-end phones and entice users to go for the Pro models, such as last year’s iPhone 14 Pro coming exclusively with the more advanced chipset. The iPhone Pro strategy worked. iPhone prices haven’t changed since 2020, but Apple’s sales grew as more buyers opted for premium phones.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple is differentiating iPhone Pro models far better today and will very soon do so even better with the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max which will even be better differentiated between themselves beyond display size (iPhone 15 Pro Max will offer the periscope lens camera exclusively). Apple owns the premium smartphone market and will only strengthen its domination with the release of the iPhone 15 lineup as customers with means line up in droves to pay whatever Apple wants to charge for the world’s best smartphones.
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