Apple didn’t reveal the real cost of buying the iPhone 12 during its special event. Instead, it only revealed carrier-locked pricings.
Apple, in a few weeks, is going to release the full lineup of the iPhone 12. Next month, the iPhone 12 Pro Max and the iPhone 12 Mini will hit the shelves. When Apple announced the pricing on these new phones, it first sounded like they actually tried maintaining the old rates.
Unfortunately, the contrary is true. Instead of customers shelling out the same amount they spent on the iPhone 11, they actually have to spend more for the iPhone 12.
Below is the actual breakdown of the true pricing of the iPhone 12.
The real cost of buying the new iPhone 12
The marketed price of the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Mini are US$799 and $699, respectively. However, these price tags only come if the buyer opts-in a carrier-locked plan. In other words, if the new customer chooses an unlocked phone, the price will be higher, particularly, $30 more expensive.
The pricing change doesn’t even end there. With the unlocked phone already being more expensive than the previous model, new customers are actually even forced to spend higher. The new iPhone 12 will no longer ship with a pair of EarPods and a wall brick charger.
A new pair of earphones and the wall brick charger cost $20 apiece. The iPhone 11 shipped at just $699 with all these accessories in the box. Putting everything together, the iPhone 12, if bought with all these additionals, is $170 more expensive than the previous model.
More bad news for customers
Apple is a master in pricing strategies. The iPhone XR and the iPhone 11 will slash off $100 off its original price. However, a recent leak shows that the new packaging of the iPhone 11 will be thin as the iPhone 12’s. In other words, the wall brick charger is also axed. It also means that the EarPods will no longer ship with it.
As such, users that need these accessories will have to shell out an extra $40 on top of the discounted price.
As for the iPhone 12, it was revealed yesterday that the fastest mmWave 5G bands would only be available for U.S. customers. All other worldwide Apple customers will have to settle with the slower 5G antennas. This is yet another blow to those that have been putting off a new purchase till the 5G iPhones came out.
It remains to be seen if Apple will offer a sale or bundling of some sort just to appease its customers. Apple is just proving that the devil is in the details, and potential buyers have to do the math right so that they don’t spend more despite getting less.
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