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iPhone 12 may cost US$50 or more than iPhone 11 and this is without EarPods, wall charger and now, significantly reduced battery capacity

iPhone 12 is expected to cost more while cutting down on EarPods, wall charger and now, battery capacity. (Image Source: Apple Insider)
iPhone 12 is expected to cost more while cutting down on EarPods, wall charger and now, battery capacity. (Image Source: Apple Insider)
Analyst Jeff Pu predicts that the upcoming iPhone 12 may start at a US$50 higher base price compared to the iPhone 11 owing to the inclusion of 5G and transition to an OLED display. This price rise is despite the fact that the iPhone 12 is not expected to include EarPods and a wall charger in the box. Further adding to the chagrin of prospective buyers is the fact that the iPhone 12 lineup may sport significantly smaller batteries than the corresponding iPhone 11 variants.

Prospective iPhone 12 buyers may have to cough up extra compared to the iPhone 11 despite the fact that the new iPhone may not bundle the EarPods or a wall charger. This information comes from analyst Jeff Pu, who forecasts that the iPhone 12 base model may retail for US$50 more compared to the iPhone 11.

If true, the upcoming iPhone 12 will start at US$749 for the base 5.4-inch model compared to the iPhone 11's starting price of US$699. This contrasts with an earlier leak, which stated that the iPhone 12 lineup would start from US$649. Pu feels that the additional US$50 could be attributed to the inclusion of 5G and the use of OLED on all iPhone 12 models compared to the use of LCD in the iPhone 11 base variant.

While prospective buyers may, understandably, not initially welcome the price increase, given the fact that they still stand to lose out on the EarPods and the charger, Pu anticipates that this "will not affect demand" and will eventually be "accepted by consumers".

Going by Pu's prediction, MacRumors estimates that the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Max may start at US$799 or US$849 further widening the price gap by US$100 to US$150 when compared to a similarly sized iPhone 11. This makes it likely that the Pro and Pro Max variants would see similar price hikes.

The purported lack of EarPods and wall charger in the box notwithstanding, it also looks like buyers will also be paying more for reduced battery capacities. MySmartPrice has spotted certifications for three battery capacities that are expected to feature in the iPhone 12 lineup. The batteries are labeled as A2471, A2431, and A2466.

According to MySmartPrice, the iPhone 12 Max and the iPhone 12 Pro are expected to share the same battery. The batteries that would feature in each iPhone 12 model are likely to be as follows:

iPhone 12 SKUBattery ModelBattery CapacityiPhone 11 Equivalent
Apple iPhone 12 5.4-inchA24712,227 mAhiPhone 11 - 3,110 mAh
Apple iPhone 12 Max 6.1-inchA24312,775 mAhN/A
Apple iPhone 12 Pro 6.1-inchA24312,775 mAhiPhone 11 Pro - 3,046 mAh
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max 6.7-inchA24663,687 mAhiPhone 11 Pro Max - 3,969 mAh

While the battery capacity seems to have been significantly reduced this time around, we see that the iPhone 12 base model takes the biggest hit. Buyers certainly expect increasing or at least similar battery capacities with each new generation, so these numbers are definitely discouraging.

It is not clear why Apple would opt for reduced battery sizes. A Korean website reported late last year that Apple would be reducing the size of the custom battery protection module by nearly 50% in 2020 iPhones, which would pave the way for larger battery capacities. In fact, the inclusion of 5G, higher RAM capacity, and a more feature-rich iPhone OS would have us believe that a larger battery size is actually in order.

Is Apple confident that its upcoming A14 Bionic SoC coupled with improvements to iOS could bring serious improvements to power efficiency? Guess we will have to wait till the official launch to find out.

Source(s)

MacRumors (1) and (2)

MySmartPrice

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2020 07 > iPhone 12 may cost US$50 or more than iPhone 11 and this is without EarPods, wall charger and now, significantly reduced battery capacity
Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 2020-07-13 (Update: 2020-07-13)