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iPhones Could Cost Up to $2,300 in the U.S. Due to Tariffs, Analyst Says
- bryanrasmussen 2y agogosh, bending the knee does not give you the benefits it once did.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago> bending the knee does not give you the benefits it once did We’re talking about Apple. They’ve just been given carte blance to reprice their product line in America. I’m betting they walk away from this more profitable than ever. (Their competitors are getting boned equally if not worse than they are, too.)
- tonyedgecombe 2y agoTheir shareholders don’t seem to think so.
- codingbot3000 2y agoWill this cause people to switch to cheaper Chinese brands? Or is the Apple brand so deeply entrenched in status-conscious US American minds that they will spend that much money for a phone? ;-)
- rcbdev 2y agoMost definitely the latter. We are talking about an entire people conditioned to live their entire life in some type of indebtedness.
- dustincoates 2y agoThere's a third possibility: people hold on to their phones longer than they did in the past. We're already seeing it, even before tariffs.
- tonyedgecombe 2y agoAnd buy cheaper models in the range.
- BobaFloutist 2y agoI wonder what lowering consumer confidence does to the economy? Ah well, surely it can't be that bad.
- homebrewer 2y agoYou already know the answer. It's not just the US — a midrange iPhone costs three median monthly incomes in my country, and they're massively popular: people buy them on credit and then pay out in installments for 1-3 years. It really is a cult. Americans can be excused as it's a relatively cheap toy for them. Our people I don't understand.
- kayodelycaon 2y agoThere is no alternative for Apple if you prefer iOS.
- tonyedgecombe 2y agoOr if you want to avoid an advertising funded and privacy invading platform.
- postalrat 2y agoThe alternative is buying a cheap refurb.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- rohan_ 2y agoThe price of an iphone has remained constant over the past ~20 years. It's arguably already fairly cheap for a device that is so important for everything we do (especially considering that there is marginal benefit to upgrading every year these days and an iphone from 5 years ago still functions fine)
- bolognafairy 2y agoJust because you don’t genuine value in an iPhone over a “cheaper Chinese” (presumably Android) phone, it doesn’t mean that those that do are “status-conscious” or whatever other thinly veiled negative value judgement / insult you’re going to throw out next. Comments like this are akin to putting a big sign around your neck that says “snarky nerd that can’t see past their own nose”.
- codingbot3000 2y agoI have been using both platforms recently, but I personally consider current iPhones a bit less useful and a bit more buggy than comparable Android phones. So my guess was that many people don't buy it for the additional value but for status / cult / whatever. But I am sure there are people who get additional value out of it, e.g. because they are heavy iCloud users. Did not mean it as a general insult, sorry.
- sonorous_sub 2y agoThe Precariat are sick of being required to maintain continuous connectivity and looking for an excuse to swap "smart" phones for dumb ones. This could be just the stimulus that nascent movement needs to get off the ground.
- viraptor 2y agoThis analysis doesn't look realistic, for at least this reason: 1. Apple is making a serious margin on its hardware. Especially storage is marked up to stupid levels. 2. Apple is sitting on lots of cash. They have the means to shift at least some of the assembly to the US (or somewhere with 10% tariff), pay the China tariff on the actual price of components, sell at the inflated value of components+assembly as usual. The tariff would impact only a smaller part of the retail cost.
- StopDisinfo910 2y agoThe analysis is a bit wild but Apple (and all American hi-tech manufacturers if we are being honest) is in a difficult situation. The issue is that wherever you shift production you will be significantly destabilising their trade balance with the USA. You can optimise but tariffs will probably be bad anywhere you go. Plus China hold sway on some critical part of the supply chain like minerals and it’s virtually impossible to cut them out on a short time frame. On shoring could be a solution but the USA simply can’t fulfil the demand of its whole value chain without significant investments and who will be crazy enough to make long term investments in such a volatile environment.
- kashunstva 2y ago> China hold sway on some critical part of the supply chain like minerals… And industry personnel - skilled and otherwise, who are willing and able to staff the U.S.-based factories. (Which apparently will very shortly be booming.)
- LinuxBender 2y agoThis sounds like a good time for the masses to demand phones that last 10 to 20 years, have removable batteries this does not affect water proof ratings despite popular belief, have software defined protocols that can be upgraded or removable modules for modem and other devices 4G, 5G, 6G, 7G+ and so on.
- FirmwareBurner 2y agoWon't someone please think of the poor phone manufacturers? Apple is only the ... checks charts ... richest company in the world. How will they survive with tariffs? I like how my 15$ Casio mechanical watch is 30m water resistant yet the battery can be swapped in 2 minutes with a basic screwdriver. If only phone manufacturers can copy this crazy technology.
- bzzzt 2y agoBecause it's not water resistant anymore when the battery is swapped? My slightly more expensive watch requires new sealing rings to retain guaranteed water resistance after opening it up. Could be a warranty thing but I wouldn't bet my watch on it ;)
- subscribed 2y agoOK? So it's replacing $0.30 worth of part (plus $0.05 for silicone grease probably) instead of replacing the whole watch, right? Different phone manufacturers are different. Apple now famously changed the design of the last iPhone so it must be opened from the front (expensive screen!) rather than from the back like with the previous model - to make it even harder for the end user to seek he'll outside of apple services. This is just an example of the intentional hostility. Make deliberate changes that harm costumer in the long run.
- bzzzt 2y agoApple changed the design to make the phones more serviceable. Why is that hostile? https://www.ifixit.com/News/100693/more-modular-than-ever-before-iphone-16-pro-and-pro-max-teardown https://www.ifixit.com/News/100693/more-modular-than-ever-be...
- afinlayson 2y agoIt’s cheaper to travel to Canada or Mexico than to buy it at that price.
- alephnerd 2y agoMost people aren't buying a 1TB iPhone Pro Max - which is the model described by analysts. Realistically, Apple will eat much of the cost, but increase prices by 10-15%. Most other retailers are thinking the same. This was noted in the Reuters article [0] this macrumors article stole content from: > the company will have a tough time passing on more than 5% to 10% of the cost to consumers. > "We expect Apple to hold off on any major increases on phones until this fall when its iPhone 17 is set to launch, as it is typically how it handles planned price hikes." [0] - https://www.reuters.com/technology/will-trump-tariffs-make-apple-iphones-more-expensive-2025-04-03/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/will-trump-tariffs-make-a...
- jpeter 2y ago> Realistically, Apple will eat much of the cost No
- alephnerd 2y agoDid you read the original Reuters report this macrumors article stole content from? Price Elasticity is very much a thing.
- wg0 2y agoWhich would reduce the profit margin and then PE ratio and then market capitalisation. Who would want that?
- alephnerd 2y agoThe alternative is severely reduced purchases, which are an even more severe hit to all the metrics mentioned. Margins are important, but so is rate of sales. Hence the statements in the original Reuters article.
- seydor 2y agoI wouldn't be surprised if the increased prices lead to Higher sales for apple phones
- john_texas 2y ago[dead]
- gizajob 2y agoWell, that’s what Apple get for shutting down all their US iPhone factories, laying off all their American iPhone production workers and moving manufacturing overseas.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago> what Apple get for shutting down all their US iPhone factories When did these exist?
- cbozeman 2y agoHeavy sigh. That's the joke, sir. Or ma'am.
- rayiner 2y ago> Based on that prediction, the top-of-the-line iPhone 16 Pro Max model with 1TB of storage could rise from $1,599 to nearly $2,300 in the U.S., should Apple actually follow through with raising prices by 43% to offset the cost of tariffs. That… seems fine? An iPhone 16 Pro Max with 1TB is 1,979 euro on the French Apple store, or about $2,169. Somehow the French manage?
- JumpCrisscross 2y agoAnd the French don’t generally have a friend who can grab a phone for them from Canada or Mexico.
- petre 2y agoProbably why Apple isn't as popular in the EU: Europeans buy Samsung, which has phones for 150€, no need to shell out 800 or 1000€.
- subscribed 2y agoLOL, no, Android flagships, usually more expensive than most expensive iPhones, are more popular because people like them more. The fact 150€ phone can be purchased doesn't mean it has a majority of the market
- petre 2y agoActually they have a Gauss bell distribution 30% cheap phones, 30% mid tier, 30% flagships. But Apple's regular phones are priced as others' flagships, >800€ per unit. https://www.canalys.com/newsroom/europe-smartphone-market-q4-2024 https://www.canalys.com/newsroom/europe-smartphone-market-q4...
- apawloski 2y agoYou're currently in the "Yes everything is going to be more expensive but it won't be THAT bad" stage. How will you justify a recession when it comes? Or is that acceptable too because it also hurts the "laptop class" in addition to working class Americans?
- DaveExeter 2y agoIf iPhones could cost up to $2,300 why doesn't Apple charge $2,300 for an iPhone? It seems like they are leaving a lot of money on the table! :-)