10/24 Update below. This article was originally published on October 22
Early iPhone 15 leaks claim that Apple will shake up its smartphone lineup with several eye-catching design changes. And now it looks like the release of a new flagship model will coincide with the move to a potentially game-changing base material.
Having used stainless steel exclusively on its high-end smartphones since the iPhone X 2017, the popular leaker LeaksApplePro claims that the iPhone 15 Ultra (planned to replace the Pro Max brand) will have a titanium chassis. Titanium is much stronger and lighter than stainless steel, but it is also extremely expensive.
As for the good news, titanium’s strength-to-weight ratio is on another level than stainless steel, offering almost the same strength at 40% of its weight. This is why titanium is commonly used in weight-dependent applications, such as aircraft parts.
Additionally, titanium is 3-4 times stronger than stainless steel at the same weight. This would give Apple options: reduce the weight of the iPhone 15 Ultra without losing strength, keep the same weight and launch the most powerful smartphone in the world, or – more likely – find a balance between the two.
The benefits make titanium a no-brainer, but the reason it’s not common in smartphones is its cost. The price of titanium is $35 to $50 per kilogram, compared to $1 to $1.50 per kilogram for stainless steel. It’s a colossal difference, making it a real shock that Apple is launching a titanium iPhone.
Sure, Apple can call upon industry-leading economies of scale, but even they may struggle unless the company considers raising prices again.
Update 10/24: added weight has been added to a cost increase for the so-called iPhone 14 Ultra. written in his weekly Power-Up BulletinBloomberg’s Mark Gurman reiterates that he believes Apple will “create a bigger gap between the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max” while acknowledging the potential new “Ultra” branding.
However, what is new is Gurman’s claim that the Ultra might cost more than the iPhone 14 Pro Max. It’s not an endorsement of the titanium leak, but changing the material would be nearly impossible without a price increase.
As it stands, the iPhone 14 Pro Max starts at $1,100 and comes in four storage tiers: 128GB, 256GB ($1,200), 512GB ($1,400), and 1TB ( $1,600). That’s a lot, but spread over a three-year contract, an extra $100-200 at each level is plausible. Apple could also increase average selling prices by removing the 128GB tier, which is far from “Ultra”.
Even at this early stage, I expect Ultra branding and pricing to be the main narrative for the iPhone 15 lineup.
As I’ve written here before, I think Apple will create a bigger gap between the iPhone 15 Pro and the Pro Max, which might actually be dubbed the Ultra (like the watch) and cost over $1,100 $ – the price of the iPhone 14 Pro Max today.
On the one hand, it would be a tough pill to swallow following the near-global price increases (the US and China were excluded) introduced with the iPhone 14 lineup. On the other hand, Apple has shown its desire to build best-in-class devices in other product lines (regardless of cost), and this would align with the move to the “Ultra” brand.
Add the rumored Switch to a Thunderbolt 4-powered USB-C port, dual front cameras and, in the A17, the industry’s first 3nm chipset, and Apple just might be making an iPhone, which customers are ready to go broke for. Considering the difficulty of the standard iPhone 14 models, this can also make a lot of sense…
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