We have extensive coverage of the event and relevant news that cropped up around it (some of which revealed things Apple didn’t). Here we wanted to share some thoughts about the new models now that the dust has settled down.
Subtle and not-so-subtle price hikes
Apple has subtly increased the price of iPhones a few times and it did it again this year. In 2021 the cheapest (non-SE) iPhone was the mini, which started at $700, now the cheapest member of the premium lineup is the iPhone 14 at $800.
Yes, the iPhone 13 was also $800 and Apple is pointing at that, hoping that you won’t notice that the price of admission went up as the mini went away. We have detailed pricing info for the new models, if you want to have a look. The mini itself was part of a subtle price hike – the vanilla iPhone 11 started at $700 in 2019, the base iPhone 12 was also $700 in 2020. However, that was the newly-introduced mini, the 6.1” iPhone 12 (which was the actual successor to the vanilla iPhone 11) went up to $800.
There was another fib during the Wednesday event – Apple showed the US pricing of the iPhone 14 models, suggesting that it is the same as the 13 series. And it is, though there is a “but” coming. The new models cost the same as the old ones in several countries (including the US, Canada and China), but have considerably gone up in Europe, parts of Asia and other regions.
Waiting may have been a mistake
We’ll talk about the Plus and the mini, but while we’re on the subject of prices, we wanted to cover the older models too. As it does every year, Apple discontinues the old Pro series and keeps the vanilla models around with a discount.
It did so this year too – the iPhone 12, 13 and 13 mini are still available at a reduced price. Well, not quite, the reduction is relative to the iPhone 14 series and since those prices went up in some regions, the cost of the older models actually stayed the same in several countries.
Worse still, the price of the iPhone SE (2022) went up in some places. We know some of you waited for the new generation to launch so that you can pick up one of the older models at a discount, but this year this strategy didn’t work out quite as well as it usually does.
The Plus is a welcome addition to the family
Apple resurrected the “Plus” naming for the new iPhone 14 Plus. It is the same size as the 14 Pro Max (off by just fractions of a millimeter) and it claims the same 6.7” screen diagonal. It has effectively the same pixel density too (458ppi), making for a nice, sharp image.