Apple’s $1,600 iPhone 15

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Sep 13, 8:30AM EDT

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Apple’s $1,600 iPhone 15 — © Stockfoo / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) has launched its new iPhone, and it does not upgrade most features of the iPhone 14. If sales of the new model are slow, Apple may make up the revenue shortfall with higher prices. The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max with 1TB costs $1,599. This makes it the most expensive iPhone ever. (Customers are abandoning these 25 brands.)
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Most mortals will opt for the iPhone 15 base model for $799. Such wireless companies as AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon will let people buy these in installments if they take a long-term wireless contract. AT&T sells the iPhone 15 for $0 a month for a contract of 36 months, as long as the customer has a trade-in. It is fuzzy about which trade-ins qualify.
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Apple’s price move is audacious. It relies on the power of the Apple brand, which is the most valuable in the world. Transfixed by a new iPhone, many buyers will flock to it like proverbial lemmings.

The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro have some upgrades, most of which will never be used or that people do not care about. These include a titanium case, a “super high-resolution camera,” a better chip and a USB-C connector. This connector will make it easier to charge an iPhone, but is it enough of a reason to upgrade from an earlier generation?
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Apple’s stock price has soared over the past year, and its market cap hit $3 trillion. No matter what happens to other Apple products, the iPhone is the company’s revenue workhorse.
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Some loyal Apple investors were shaken a few days ago when China said there would be some iPhone sales restrictions. Will Apple replace those sales? It is a critical question because China is Apple’s largest market.

In the meantime, if iPhone 15 sales falter, Apple can hope to be saved by higher prices.

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.