iPhone 16 price prediction: Will it be more expensive than iPhone 15?

With Apple’s iPhone 16 expected in September, one of the biggest questions hanging over the iPhone launch each year is price. Apple’s flagship iPhone models are never cheap, and consumers enter most launch seasons wary of a potential price increase. Understandably, given the first iPhone cost just $499, whereas now Apple’s best iPhone costs north of $1,200. 

So let’s get right to it, and begin with some good news. There are currently no leaks or rumors indicating that Apple is planning to increase the price of either the iPhone 16 or the iPhone 16 Pro. While that doesn’t rule out the prospect completely, it’s a promising sign and would render an increase something of a last-minute surprise. Also notable, a large part of the iPhone 16’s appeal is expected to be Apple Intelligence, huge AI software upgrades coming to iOS 18. With a heavy focus on software, big hardware changes that could push prices up seem unlikely. 

So what does that tell us about the prospective price of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro?

Here’s a breakdown, model by model, so you can quickly peruse your favored option. 

iPhone 16

iPhone 16 is expected to feature the same size and chassis as the previous model, with no obvious upgrades to justify a price jump over the iPhone 15. To that end, we’d expect the iPhone 16 to be priced starting at $799 for the 128GB model:

iPhone 16 Plus

Likewise, the iPhone 16 Plus is expected to be much the same as its predecessor. To that end, we’d expect prices to start at $899 for the 128GB model:

As you can see, there’s a discrepancy in the jump to 512GB of storage for both models, which is $200 extra compared to $100 more for the 256GB option. There are scattered rumors of a 1TB option iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. While unlikely, we’d expect them to be priced at $200 over and above the 512GB option at $1,299 and $1,399.  

iPhone 16 Pro

The iPhone 16 Pro is shaping up to be more of a jump compared to the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus. Most notably, it’s going to be a bit larger — 6.3 inches over 6.1. However, that size increase alone is unlikely to merit a price increase, and there are no other significant upgrades on the cards to that end, either. 

The iPhone 15 Pro is $999 for a 128GB model, and we’d expect the iPhone 16 Pro to start at the same price. 

There’s one potential wrinkle here, in that Apple may choose to drop the 128GB storage option for the iPhone 15 Pro, just as it did with the iPhone 15 Pro Max last year. That could herald a price increase of $100, with a starting price of $1,099 possible. As noted above, there are also rumors of a 2TB option, which we’d expect to cost $200 more than the 1TB version. 

iPhone 16 Pro Max

Like its smaller sibling, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is going to be bigger than its predecessor — 6.9 inches instead of 6.7. Again, however, there’s no indication that this or any other upgrade will herald a price increase. 

We’d expect Apple to offer a base model of 256GB, starting at $1,199.

Again, we’ve priced in a rumored 2TB model that would be the most expensive iPhone of all time. 

As noted, with no significant upgrades on the cards and with no surprise new iPhone 16 Ultra on the cards, we expect the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro to be priced very closely to the current iPhone 16 lineup. 

Will the iPhone 15 get cheaper when iPhone 16 comes out?

Absolutely, Apple will definitely reduce the price of the iPhone 15 to reflect the new lineup. If Apple follows suit from previous years, we’d expect the iPhone 15 Pro to disappear from the lineup, while the iPhone 15 will stay on shelves, possibly alongside the iPhone 14. The iPhone 13 will likely be discontinued.

Based on Apple’s current pricing models, we’d expect the iPhone 15 to fall to the price of $699, alongside an iPhone 14 priced at $599.