When it launched, the iPhone 14 turned out to be more expensive to buy than previous models: in France, the iPhone 14 classic model costs between 1019 euros. According to the analysis of the firm TechInsight, published on November 9, the manufacturing cost of the iPhone 14 is however less than 13: 501 dollars (about 480 euros) compared to 505 dollars for the iPhone 13. These two models of ‘ iPhone are comparable because they are powered by the same chip: the A15 Bionic.
The firm’s analysis refers only to components and assembly and does not take into account the software part, nor the royalties from patents. Until now, the more Apple phone models evolved, the more manufacturing costs increased. It is therefore a small revolution for the Apple brand that the cost of manufacturing falls, even if it is symbolically.
Technically, this $4 difference is due to a carefully considered choice of components. Keeping the old chip model, for the iPhone 14, saves $150 million in a year, according to the firm. Other components from previous generations have also been retained for this model, such as Wi-Fi 6, instead of moving to Wi-Fi 6E, DDR4 RAM, as well as the option to offer 6 GB of RAM. In total, there are 250 components in the iPhone 14, the result of an integration effort.
However, the estimate for the iPhone 13 is based on prices from a year ago, before the costs of raw materials and components increased. On the other hand, the iPhone 14 Pro Max would be 20% more expensive to produce than the same model as the 13. This is mainly due to the integration of the new A16 Bionic chip, which is more expensive than the chip used in the iPhone 14 and previous models.
Source: BFM TV
