The iPhone Ultra was originally intended to be a premium model costing consumers $2,000. That was still the case until the memory and flash crisis became a bigger problem.
There’s no question that the iPhone Ultra will be an expensive device. With a starting price thought to be at $2,099 by analysts and with upper-specification models hitting $3,000, it will be the most premium-priced iPhone ever.
While it seems expensive, and even more so because of the memory crisis affecting the tech industry at large, it was always planned this way.
In a Tuesday story about the iPhone Ultra, Bloomberg claims that a price of $1,999 was targeted early in its development. A figure that flirted with the $2,000 barrier that could scare off consumers.
This seemingly mirrors the development of the iPhone X, which sold for $999 at launch. Apple reportedly took the same approach with that model, as $1,000 was a similar barrier that could cause sticker shock versus other iPhone model prices.
That sticker shock would’ve theoretically been weakened by the existing pricing for Apple’s Pro models. The current iPhone 17 Pro Max starts with a base price of $1,199, but costs as much as $1,999 if you go for 2TB of onboard storage.
Continued sales at the higher end of the price spectrum has helped convince Apple that an even more premium option at $2,000 is a possibility.
Bad memory
Apple’s plan for staying a dollar below $2,000 was thwarted by the memory and storage chip crisis, which has pushed up prices across the industry.
In June, Apple was forced to face the reality of high-priced components and begrudgingly increased the prices of Macs, iPads, and other items. However, it resisted increasing the price of its iPhones at the time.
There are expectations of price rises coming in for the iPhone line, but maybe in the region of $100 or so.
One of Mark Gurman’s sources say that Apple has internally discussed increasing its target for the iPhone Ultra to as high as $2,199 for the entry-level model. Multiple options have apparently been floated in recent weeks, all due to the memory issues.
Bear in mind that this is at the entry-level price point. For high storage levels, this could result in an iPhone Ultra appraching $3,000.