iPhone 12 will be more expensive than the iPhone 11, bill of materials suggests

It was previously rumored that the iPhone 12 would start at $649, $50 less than the iPhone 11. 

While the prospect was exciting, it did sound a bit unbelievable. After all, the upcoming models will have new tricks up their sleeves, and upgrades usually lead to an increase in price.

Shortly afterwards, a report claiming that the starting price could be anywhere between $699 and $749 emerged.

A Weibo tipster (via GizChina) now suggests that the upper range is more likely. Apple will apparently not include EarPods and chargers with the new models, a practice which it has already started with its latest watch models. Consumers were hoping that the omission of these accessories will help the company keep the price of the iPhone 12 the same as iPhone 11’s.

It turns out that the bill of materials cost for the iPhone 12 is apparently $50 more when compared to the iPhone 11, presumably because of 5G components and OLED display. If you do the math, this equates to a starting price of $749.

The same leaker also reiterates that Apple’s suppliers will likely not be able to meet the production target of 80 million iPhone 12 units. 

The company is apparently hoping to sell 80 million units of the new models this year. Provided that the demand forecast is accurate, this could be bad news for iPhone fans, as supply will fall short of an estimated 6 million to 10 million units.

Apple has already introduced the A14 chip that will power the iPhone 12, and leaked benchmark scores suggest performance gains will not be huge when compared to the iPhone 11. The higher-end variants are expected to come with a LiDar sensor, and it doesn’t look like potential buyers are all that excited about this upgrade.

iPhone 12 sales could still reach iPhone 6 levels, largely because of the fact that these would be the first ever 5G-enabled Apple smartphones.