According to reports from various sources, Apple’s new iPhone 8 will sell from $1,000, which will make it the most expensive iPhone ever. Why? The answer is simple: it will cost more to build than any previous iPhone.
The Economic Daily News recently reported that TPK Holdings is quoting between two and two-and-a-half times the usual price for integrating 3D Touch into the new phone’s display. The newspaper said: “The solution directly bonds 3D Touch sensors on LTPS TFT-LCD display panels of the iPhone, but 3D Touch solution for OLED panels entails bonding of a glass cover on the front and back side of an OLED panel each to reinforce the fragile OLED panel.”
Apple is facing many other price increases. According to Goldman Sachs, the OLED itself pushes up the total cost by $35. The 3D sensing technology the camera is expected to incorporate adds another $20 and more RAM will push up the cost by between $16 and $29.
All of this plus the new 3D Touch module will add around $100 to the cost. Other components include quick charging, wireless charging and Touch ID built into the display. If you consider that the 256GB iPhone 7 already comes with a $969 price tag, suddenly with all of these features $1,000 doesn’t seem that much.
Despite rumours of an alternative cheaper option, Goldman Sachs believes it’s already too late to turn back and that Apple has decided to live with the higher cost and therefore the higher retail price of the iPhone 8.
Apple has of course never been scared to increase its prices. Recently MacBook Pro prices went through the roof, but sales have remained constant. It seems unlikely that the $1,000+ price tag of the iPhone 8 will deter many customers — provided it lives up to expectations.