by When it was introduced in September 2022, the iPhone 14 Pro Max marked the pinnacle of what Apple could produce in the smartphone field. Despite the high final price, the company presented it with values identical to the previous generations. So how much does each iPhone 14 Pro Max unit cost to make?
There is a growing perception that high-end smartphones are too expensive. The brands say that prices increase from country to country, taking into account not only the value of the product at origin (which increases from year to year in most cases), but also the taxes imposed on the retail trade.
This scenario was seen with the iPhone 14 Pro Max and until recently with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
An analysis by Counterpoint Research has revealed how much the 128GB iPhone 14 Pro Max costs to produce. Your PVP has increased, but so has your production, of course in different scales and values. Now the production of this smartphone costs 433 euros ($464).
The analysis presented does not detail the cost of each item, but clearly shows where this increase is applied. It's clear from the start that it's 3.4% more expensive for Apple to make this new model than the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
In the reasons given for the increase, we have two elements: the 48 MP rear camera and the new screen, with support for AOP. However, the communications part was 13% cheaper, especially due to the massification of 5G components.
Some of the findings from the Counterpoint Research report
- The A16 Bionic SoC costs Apple about $11 more per unit than the A15 Bionic SoC.
- The overall "processing" category, which includes the A16 Bionic SoC, now accounts for 20% of the total cost of materials.
- Components created by Apple itself have a larger share of the overall BoM (Bill of Material) cost of the iPhone 14 Pro Max than the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Apple-designed components account for 22% of the total BoM cost of the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
- A 128GB mmWave iPhone 14 Pro Max costs Apple up to $474 to produce.
- A sub-6GHz iPhone 14 Pro Max 128GB costs $454 to make.
Although we are only talking about the cost of materials, the value shown is a far cry from the 1,499 euros it is sold for in Portugal. There are also assembly, development, transportation, marketing and other prices to consider, but they are certainly far from that price.
