With the possible exception of the iPhone SE, Apple’s smartphones have never been the best option for those on a tight budget. But a new report says that the upcoming iPhone 13 could be more expensive than ever, thanks to spiraling chip production costs.
DigiTimes reports that TSMC, the company that produces many of the company’s mobile chips, is planning to raise prices across the board. Apple gets off relatively lightly, with an anticipated 3-5% price hike, according to DigiTimes’ sources, while other chips could rise by as much as 20%.
Predictably, the site reckons that Apple will end up passing this cost directly on to the consumer with a price hike expected for the iPhone 13 series when it’s unveiled next month. Although the price change won’t kick in until January 2022, Apple will apparently factor in the higher cost from the beginning, rather than risking negative feedback by hiking the RRP once TSMC raises its own prices.
How big a price hike you can expect depends on a few things including where on the 3-5% scale TSMC ends up landing, how much of the cost Apple is prepared to absorb itself, and whether the other rumoured iPhone 13 upgrades will cost more as well.
But to give you a general idea, here’s how the percentages suggested would impact the iPhone 13 compared to the current RRP of the iPhone 12 family. A 3% rise would see the iPhone 13 mini cost ~£720 (up £21), the iPhone 13 move to £823 (up £24), the iPhone 13 Pro hit £1029 (up £30) and the iPhone 13 Pro Max jump to £1132 (up £33). A 5% rise would see the prices reach £734, £839, £1049 and £1154 respectively.
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We should have official prices soon enough. The iPhone 13 is set to be unveiled next month, with one report suggesting that the new handsets could be in early adopters’ hands in just under a month’s time.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
