Since February, it’s been rumored that this year’s iPhone 8 will smash the $1000 barrier in terms of pricing. That’s a premium device for sure.
However, the latest word from Wall Street analyst Steven Milunovich suggests that only the very top end model with 256GB storage will cost that much. Specifically, $1,070. For our readers in the UK, this might work out to just below a cool grand for you guys: we’d guess £999 for the 256GB version.
What’s interesting about this latest note is that it also forecasts a base price of $870 for the iPhone 8, though the analyst doesn’t say which storage option this might match up to. Apple typically offer three storage options for each model of iPhone, each tier costing $100 than the last, so it would make sense that $870 would nab a 64GB device and (we’re reading between the lines here) $970 for 128GB.
With Apple set to release a premium iPhone 8 alongside more iterative upgrades in the form of an iPhone 7s and 7s Plus, it’s nice to see some mention of a slightly more affordable model. Could an $870 iPhone 8 be cheap enough to cannibalize the sales of the other two releases, and does that matter to Apple?
As the iPhone 8 will be the superior model in terms of technical specifications and features, that could leave the other two dropping in price even further as the more affordable options. We’ve already seen Apple have great success with the $399 iPhone SE – could the iPhone 7s drop any lower than the iPhone 7’s start price of $649? That would really help Apple conquer the mid-range market that’s currently flooded with Android devices.