04/30 Update below. This post was originally published on April 27.
Apple leaks have already revealed what everyone knows to be the most shocking change to the iPhone 14 range: the notchless redesign. Right? Wrong. New information reveals what their prices will be…
In an exclusive report, Bloomberg’s excellent Apple guru Mark Gurman reports that Apple’s decision to replace the iPhone 13 mini with an iPhone 13 Max is likely to result in a price increase of up to $300.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max Concept Shows Highest Expected Price of $1199
@VadimYuryev @Shaileshhari03
04/29 Update: And now we know exactly what the new iPhone 14 Max and the rest of the iPhone 14 lineup will look like. Thanks to a major supply chain leak on the popular Chinese website, Weibo, historically the home of component leaks, (via content creator saran byte) we can now see the actual front panels of all four models for the first time. Interestingly, the parties confirm several details that had been much discussed:
- iPhone 14 Pro models will have thinner and more symmetrical bezels
- Professional models appear to be a bit taller than non-professional models with rounder corners
- In fact, the iPhone 14 Max replaces the iPhone 13 Mini, and aside from aspect ratio margins, it’s about the same size as the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max.
- The standard models retain the notch, while both iPhone 14 Pros have the polarization. new i-shaped cutout.
Aligning the actual parts (which is a regular trend this time every year as Apple ramps up mass production), also adds substance to leaks around the internals of new models. That said, this is not necessarily good news. Notably, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max are expected to run on a previous-generation chipset (Apple’s 2021 A15 Bionic is also used in the $429 iPhone SE) for the first time, while increases leaked price tags (below) seem even more likely.
Update 04/30: Verification of the leaked iPhone 14 front panels has now come from ShrimpApplePro, an increasingly influential anonymous member of the industry.
Speaking with popular YouTuber Jon Prosser on his FrontPageTech show, the leaker broke things off with Prosser reporting, “Yeah, it’s real… As for why we’re seeing this now, well, he [ShrimpApplePro] says mass production could start as soon as next month. So what you’re seeing is still technically in the development phase, but we’re just around the corner from this being done at scale.”
While Prosser has really made a name for himself over the past 18 months with a series of high-profile leaks from Apple and Google, ShrimpApplePro has caused a stir more recently after his leaked iPhone 14 Pro schematics were the first to reveal a new i-cut for these models Their information contradicted that of several other established leakers and was initially treated with skepticism but, after a series of complementary leaks from other sources, all leading experts now agree that this is the design of iPhone 14 Pro chosen by Apple.
As such, a ShrimpApplePro advisory is as good as it gets for iPhone leaks in 2022 and highlights Apple’s plan to widen the design, feature, and performance gaps between iPhone Pros and non-Pros in the future. It’s a risky strategy that risks alienating fans at a time of global belt-tightening, but Apple rarely gets its product strategy wrong.
“So for the first time, the non-Pro line of iPhones will have a 6.7-inch display option,” Gurman explains. “…users will now be able to get Apple’s largest iPhone size for at least $200 less than before.”
In other words: an iPhone 14 Max will be around $200 cheaper than an iPhone 14 Pro Max. Now let’s analyze this. Currently, an iPhone 13 Pro Max starts at $1099, which would give an iPhone 14 Max a price of $899, an increase of $200 compared to the $699 iPhone 13 Mini it replaces. But not so fast.
Multiple leaks have claimed that rising component costs and Apple’s determination to differentiate between Pro and non-Pro iPhones will see the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max increase to $1099 and $1199 respectively. That $200 gap now potentially pushes the iPhone 14 Max to $999, $300 more than an iPhone 13 Mini.
And this is just the beginning because, as Gurman points out, the standard iPhone 14 models will share far fewer Pro features than previous generations. Among the features it claims will be lost are:
Changes to the corners of the iPhone 14 Pro make it a noticeably more rounded phone than the iPhone 13 Pro
Ian Zelb
All of which presents Apple fans with something of a conundrum: How much does size matter?
Poor sales of the iPhone 13 Mini have again shown that big screens are what users really want, so a more affordable iPhone 14 Pro Max should fit the bill. But if the iPhone 14 Max costs around $1,000 and just $100 more gets you an iPhone 14 Pro, which has a superior design, an improved camera, next-gen performance, and a 120Hz ProMotion display, the reaction might be very different.
giving users what they want but no how they want it, is an Apple specialty. And it looks like the iPhone 14 range will be no different.
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