Not everyone is buying their phones through the carriers.
It’s fine for what it is, but their pricing is a bit too high, at least in Europe (€709).
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iPhone 16e Could Apple have priced the 16e at $499?
- Thread starter Rogifan
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Not everyone is buying their phones through the carriers.
It’s fine for what it is, but their pricing is a bit too high, at least in Europe (€709).
As someone else said the SE was $429 just a few days ago. I don’t think the 16 E is $170 more because of inflation. For whatever reason Apple decided to kill off that price point. But here’s a thought: design something that can be priced at $499, get rid of the 14 and reduce the price of the 15 by $50. Then you have a $150 price gap between the 16e and the 15 and the 15 and 16, and a $200 price gap between the 16 and 16 Pro. That seems reasonable.
Potentially, yes. Buyers should compare plans, crunch the numbers, etc. to see what works best for them.
Apple's gross profit margin on phones is almost double Samsung. They could lower the cost of every phone.
At launch a PC cost $4500 in 1982 which is $15,000 in today's dollars. Tech improvements have been constant and costs are a fraction of what they were then.
As long as people will pay, nothing will change but regardless of the specs, the min. cost for an iPhone is now $599.
At launch a PC cost $4500 in 1982 which is $15,000 in today's dollars. Tech improvements have been constant and costs are a fraction of what they were then.
As long as people will pay, nothing will change but regardless of the specs, the min. cost for an iPhone is now $599.
Again, why does that matter? Whether it be phones, televisions, appliances, furniture or cars, consumer goods are often "discounted" in some way. That doesn't mean they don't or shouldn’t still have different retail prices and price points.
Discounting is irrelevant to whether Apple or any other phone manufacturer priced a phone at $299, $429, $599, $999, $1,299 or whatever.
Inflation was part of it but Apple likely also didn't want to continue to offer such an archaic product. The iPhone SE 3 was based on the iPhone 8 which dated back to 2017, and had a chip that dated back to 2021. They felt it was time to give their entry phone a serious update/upgrade including eliminating the small 64GB storage option. The 16e has increased RAM, better camera setup, better chip, better modem, better battery, increased max brightness, super retina XDR display, Apple Intelligence, emergency SOS via satellite, crash detection, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, ceramic shield, greater water resistance, etc. all for just $120 (with same storage) more than the old SE. A pretty good value for an iPhone IMO.
Adjusting to USD, pre-VAT pricing in Europe is typically pretty close to pre-sales tax pricing in the U.S.
In Germany, for example, the pre-VAT starting price for the 16e is around €582 which in USD is currently around $609 or only $10 higher than the pre-sales tax price for same phone in U.S.
Again, I’m saying it’s *others* who are suggesting the 16e was priced at $599 so it could be discounted. I’m saying that doesn’t factor into Apple’s pricing because the $429 SE was discounted as well. Maybe the 16e is appropriately priced for what it is. And from a price standpoint it seems to be replacing the 14, not the SE. I still think it would be good for Apple’s entry into iPhone to be cheaper. Design something they could price at $499 and reduce the price of the 15 to $649 as it’s probably not sticking around once the 17 is released.
I also think there is a good chance Apple moves this to $499 once the iPhone 17 series launches as it has done in the past for older products (like iPad 10th gen). That would represent a solid value proposition at that price and will not be competing as directly with the iPhone 17 series than it currently is with the 16 series.
But then your arguing should tech not progress as some people may be happy with what they have.
700 is a bit high, in the UK it’s 599 which I think isn’t too bad, when the 16 starts at 799. But it is only not too bad for APPLE, in reality I think 799 for the standard iPhone is a bit too much.
I was thinking the same thing, but it would be a poor release path on their side, I mean they already know what they are releasing in September so they must have taken this into account with today's pricing. A discount after just 7 months is a bad look. It then seems like they might discontinue iPhone 16 due to pricing, along with both Pros. maybe keep the Plus or the 15.
I predict this will happen, I’m obviously not 100% sure but considering they’re heavily marketing it as a part of the 16 series of iPhones, just like they usually do with the now previous iPhone series they’ll knock it down $100. If they kept both the 16 and 16e in the line and didn’t lower the price of the 16e there’d only be $100 difference between them which would be very little money for a plethora of better features. Who knows though.
I don’t know how they came up with these crazy prices where I live -
iP16e - €709
iP15 - €852, iP15 Plus - €952
iP16 - €952, iP16 Plus - €1102
iP16 Pro - €1202, iP16 Pro Max - €1452
and all these models/prices with the base 128GB storage.
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Yes, but that's not always the case and isn't something that should just be automatically assumed/dismissed. I crunched out the numbers buying the phone straight up from Apple vs. buying through my carrier. When I needed to change my plan the first time I upgraded, the new plan ended up being $20 cheaper. I decided I really didn't need to cling onto my old grandfathered unlimited plan since the new one still had more than what I needed (and I got the Disney bundle out of the deal, so was able to drop the subscription I already had). The second time I upgraded, no plan change was needed even though the plan isn't offered anymore. It was a personal loyalty offer.
Also, they don't lock you in anymore. Sure, you have to stick with them for the agreement term in order to get the full value of the trade-in credits, but you're free to leave or upgrade whenever you want and forfeit the rest of the credits. If I decide I want to upgrade to the 18 in a couple of years, I can. I'll just need to pay off the remaining balance, and the phone ends up being $300 since I'll have received $600 in credits from the XS by then. (Apple was only going to give me $80 for the XS.)
Again, this isn't for everyone. If you plan to stay on one of the big three, you should shop around and crunch the numbers first or wait until they give you a loyalty promo.
The phone prices are set on launch day. Apple doesn’t raise the prices of their phones, but rather adjust their prices when new models come out. We knew that though right?
It’s possible that Apple could have tweaked the price of their lineup differently, but why?
So from my understanding you think Apple should lower the price the 16e by $100 to $499 and lower the 15 by $50 to $649.
That puts them at $300 and $150 lower than the standard iPhone 16. That would unnecessarily cannibalize iPhone 16 sales. Why would Apple do this?
One could argue that it would also lower the bar of entry to the iPhone and bring more new customers that would’ve bought a cheap android phone. Would the profit from these new customers offset the losses on regular iPhone sales? How many new customers would he actually get? Maybe not many because someone at that price point might not care and would be happy with a cheap android phone anyways.
I know everyone thinks they can run Apple better than Tim is doing it, but he has turned Apple into a multi trillion dollar company. I think he knows what he’s doing. When he makes these decisions, they’re not just random impulses. He’s likely thought about all of this we’re talking about and decided against it.
Yeah that would be a tough spot for them.
I would see it like this for September:
- 16e at $499
- 17 base at $799
- 17 Air at $999
- 17 Pro at $999
- 17 Pro Max at $1199
That would cover a lot of bases and a lot of price points, but what I am not sure on is if Apple would continue selling the base 16 as well, at $699 or $599, both of which would be a tough sell over the 16e. That makes me think they will stop selling all 16 models except the 16e one the 17 series is released.
why on earth do people keep comparing the 16E to the Vision Pro? It’s completely nonsensical.
It’s like saying the Mac Mini should be cheaper than $599 because… The Mac Pro starts at 7000. What on earth is your point?
They aren’t even aimed at the same customers.
If the prices start making you angry that’s when you can stop increasing your predicted numbers.
The Vision Pro “was too expensive” but specs and hardware justify its price. 16e does not!
No, I’m arguing Apple should have made a phone they could price sub $500 as I don’t think the entry point to iPhone should be $600.
Oh, well then you’d have to ask what would it actually be like, because Apple likes is it 30% profit on each device? They could do it but I guess it’ll be cut down.
I don’t see the point of pricing it at $599 if they’re going to reduce it to $499 in September. It’s entirely possible the 16 doesn’t hang around and we just get the 17 and 17 Pro. I don’t know where the rumored Air fits into this. I still don’t understand what the point of an iPhone Air is.
And a cut down sub-$500 phone is exactly what people who bought the SE want.
People who want all the bells and whistles already have options in the form of the Pro and the Pro Max. Why not an option for people who don't want any bells and whistles at all?
I think Apple should have released the 16e starting at $499 and at the same time dropped the price of the 15 to $649. I’m sure you’re right that the bean counters determined that would cut too much into 16 sales. Honestly I’d like to see more differentiation so it’s quite easy to know what to buy. The ‘good’ iPhone is clearly for those on a budget who prioritize value over anything else. The ‘better’ iPhone is for the majority of iPhone users. It’s got the latest chip, great cameras, great displays, long battery life etc. And the ‘best’ iPhone is a ‘pro’ iPhone that has top of the line/cutting edge specs and is mostly geared towards people who use their phone professionally. Make it clear who each iPhone is for and don’t have people scratching their heads wondering which is the best one to get.