Any iPhone with the Ultra name is always going to be expensive, so it’s no surprise to hear that the rumored iPhone 15 Ultra could be more expensive than the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
That’s according to LeaksApplePro – a leaker with a proven track record – for How to solve (opens in a new tab), claiming that the starting price of the iPhone 15 Ultra could be as high as $1,299. Prices for other regions were not provided, but Apple is currently selling the 512GB iPhone 14 Pro for that price, compared to £1,429/AU$2,249 elsewhere, so those prices may apply here as well.
In comparison, the iPhone 14 Pro Max starts at $1,099 / £1,199 / AU$1,899, so that means a $200 / £230 / AU$350 increase in the starting price.
It might not be that bad, though, with a starting price as low as $1,199 (which could translate to £1,309 / AU$2,099) considered the most optimistic possibility, but even that would be much higher than the starting price of the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
So how does Apple justify this price increase? According to LeaksApplePro, part of the reason is simply inflation, but most importantly, the phone may have some upgrades that the rest of the iPhone 15 series does not, including a titanium frame, a dual-lens selfie camera, and a starting storage capacity of 256GB.
All of this will reportedly result in about $90 more production costs than the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Oddly, the source also claims that the iPhone 15 Ultra may only come in one color — the same silver hue as the Apple Watch Ultra. They claim there may be other shades, but so far they haven’t seen any evidence.
We’re going to add the usual caveat to all of this – leaks should be taken with a grain of salt, especially so far from the iPhone 15’s possible September 2023 release date, but frankly, we’d be surprised if the iPhone 15 came out The Ultra doesn’t cost more than any existing model.
Analysis: Price hikes aren’t as much as they sound
While the iPhone 15 Ultra sounds very expensive here, one notable detail is that it will apparently come with up to 256GB of storage, which is double the 128GB starting capacity of the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Buy the 256GB iPhone 14 Pro Max and the price rises to $1,199/£1,309/AU$2,099, the same as the lowest estimate for the iPhone 15 Ultra here and $100/£120/AU$150 less than the highest estimate.
So for a comparable amount of storage, the iPhone 15 Ultra might not actually be that much more expensive than the iPhone 14 Pro Max; if it does, the increase might not be as big as it first appears. Either way, it could be one of the most expensive non-folding phones of 2023.
