Apple's iPhone prices have skyrocketed over the past 14 years, iPhone 13 is 81% more expensive than the original iPhone

Smartphones made by Apple are expensive, there is hardly any reason to deny that. With the exception of the iPhone SE (from US$277 on Amazon), current devices from the Cupertino-based company are priced in the high-end segment. The new iPhone 13 Pro Max in its massive 1TB configuration for example retails for a mind-boggling US$1,599 excluding taxes.

Of course, such price points have not been reached by the original iPhone in 2007. According to a new study by Self, iPhone prices have increased by an average of 81% in the last 14 years. This means that an iPhone is on average US$437 more expensive than in 2007. In relation to the also increasing gross domestic products, a new iPhone is still US$154 pricier. The United Arab Emirates have seen the most significant price increase at +110%. In the United States on the other hand, the iPhone 13 is only 12% more expensive than the original Apple smartphone. Some countries, like Ireland for example, have even seen iPhone prices decrease in relation to their GDP.

A significant cause for the price increase of iPhones is certainly inflation, but the highly advanced technical components that Apple and other manufacturers put in their flagship smartphones like the iPhone 13 Pro Max are simply much more expensive to develop and produce than one and a half decades ago. However, since wages in most countries have not increased by such a margin since 2007, most people probably have to work quite a bit longer these days in order to afford a brand-new Apple iPhone.