iPhone 15 Plus

Apple may have plans to cut the price of the upcoming iPhone 15 Plus after poor sales of the 14 Plus, per a leaker with a decent track record.

As reported by Macworld and 9to5Mac, leaker ‘yeux1122‘ posted on South Korean blogging platform Naver that iPhone 14 Plus sales fell “far beyond” Apple’s lowest estimates. Because of this, yeux1122 says Apple is looking at new strategies with the iPhone 15 Plus to change that trend, including “seriously” considering a price reduction.

Moreover, yeux1122 noted that because Apple plans its phone releases years in advance, it’s too late to simply cancel the iPhone 15 Plus. The company pulled that move after the iPhone 12 mini and 13 mini missed sales expectations.

9to5 notes that this doesn’t come as much of a surprise given that reviewers urged potential customers away from the iPhone 14 Plus towards the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus offered very little over the iPhone 13, with the phones both using the A15 chip (albeit slightly updated in the 14 series) — why buy that when the iPhone 13 was available for less?

Although yeux1122 doesn’t specify how significant a price cut the iPhone 15 Plus would receive compared to the iPhone 14 Plus, 9to5 wrote it would need to be at least $100 USD (about $135.53 CAD) to have a significant impact.

Moreover, a reduction in iPhone 15 Plus price would likely mean the base iPhone 15 would see a price cut too. In Canada, the iPhone 14 Plus costs $150 more than the iPhone 14 — the iPhone 15 price would have to fall almost as much as the supposed 15 Plus cut to maintain that delta.

Of course, Apple won’t release the iPhone 15 line until September of 2023, leaving plenty of time for details and plans to change. Decent track record or not, you should take yeux1122’s leak with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Source: yeux1122 (Naver) Via: Macworld, 9to5Mac

Apple could have big plans for its 2023 iPhone lineup.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the tech giant could call its high-end 2023 smartphone the iPhone 15 “Ultra” instead of “Pro Max” as it has for the last few years.

Gurman says that along with the notable name change, the iPhone 15 will feature the most significant redesign in the last few years, including the addition of USB-C and other “bigger changes,” though it’s unclear what will actually be different.

Apple has shifted the iPhone’s naming convention quite a bit over the years, first using the ‘S’ name (i.e. iPhone 4s) for iterative update years, and at one point, calling the larger version of the smartphone the ‘Plus.’ The company brought the ‘Plus’ name back alongside the release of its iPhone 14 series, which also marked the end of the mini line.

Along with the high-end iPhone name change, the iPhone 15 will reportedly switch to USB-C. The change is spurred by the European Union (EU) legally forcing all smartphones released after 2024 to feature the port. Further, according to display analyst Ross Young, the entire iPhone 15 line is expected to feature the smartphone’s ‘Dynamic Island.’

Finally, Gurman says that there’s a possibility Apple may not hold another event this fall because its updates to the Mac mini, MacBook Pro and iPad Pro are expected to be iterative. It’s worth noting that Apple’s more recent strategy of streaming three fall events was a product of the ongoing pandemic, and previously, the tech giant held one in-person keynote in September.

For more on the iPhone 14 series, check out my review of the iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max and the iPhone 14.

Source: Bloomberg Via: Engadget