Toni Hobrecht
According to a new report from Counterpoint Research, Apple’s component costs to produce an iPhone 14 Pro Max are just 3.7% higher than the costs to produce an iPhone 13 Pro Max in 2022. The report refers to production costs per product and includes all components necessary to assemble the end product. Accordingly, Apple’s manufacturing costs for the iPhone 14 Pro Max appear to have increased only slightly compared to its predecessor.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max with 128GB of storage will cost Apple around $464, according to the analysis. This corresponds to an increase of 3.7% compared to the estimated cost of an iPhone 13 Pro Max. The cost increase is largely made up of the chipset, display and camera changes, which also take up a larger share of the production costs overall.
Going from the A15 Bionic to the A16 Bionic chipset costs Apple $11 more, bringing the cost share of this part to 20%. In contrast, the new always-on display now accounts for 20% of the total costs instead of 19%. Since Apple is also installing a new 48-megapixel main camera and an improved sensor-shift stabilization system, the camera cost has increased by $6.30. Accordingly, the proportion of the total costs per iPhone 14 Pro Max increased by 1% to 11%.
One of the few declining areas was the mobile communications group, whose cost share fell from 14 to 13%. The reason is said to be a drop in component prices of the 5G connection. Counterpoint estimates that the cost of Apple-designed components for the iPhone 14 Pro Max has also increased. The proportion of these components is 22%.
iPhone 14 Pro Max is $17 more expensive
Overall, an iPhone 14 Pro Max is $17 more expensive to manufacture than an iPhone 13 Pro Max. That’s a little lower than going from the iPhone 12 Pro to the iPhone 13 Pro, where costs had risen around $21.50. However, the last really big jump in material costs is even further back. For the iPhone 12, Apple had to pay 21% more for the components than on the iPhone 11.
