How much Apple spends in making iPhone 11 Pro Max
What's the story
A month ago, Apple shook the smartphone arena by unveiling the fancy iPhone 11 family. The line-up included two heavily priced high-end models, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, and a more affordable iPhone 11. But, looking at the prices of these devices, you may sometimes wonder: How much does it cost Apple to make them? Well, let's find out.
Prices
First, a look at the prices of iPhone 11 line-up
In the US, the iPhone 11 Pro starts at $999; Pro Max model begins at $1,099, while the entry-level model of iPhone 11 comes at $699. Meanwhile, in India, the prices are even higher - the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max start Rs. 99,900 and 1,09,900, respectively, while the iPhone 11 costs around Rs. 64,900.
Manufacturing cost
Trick to estimating the cost of making a phone
Now, while you can't estimate the exact cost of making a phone and taking it to the market, the parts put inside the device certainly give a pretty close idea. The folks at TechInsights and NBC News took the exact same approach to estimate how much Apple is shelling out to build a full-fledged iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Teardown
So, what's the cost of making iPhone 11 Pro Max?
After conducting a complete teardown, the team figured that the 6.5-inch OLED of the iPhone 11 Pro Max costs Apple $66.50. Apart from that, the company pays $10.50 for a Samsung-built battery, $73.50 for triple rear cameras, and $159 for the processor, modem, memory, and the circuit-board housing them. Another $181 goes for sensors, wires, PCBs, and elements required for keeping everything in place.
Final cost
This puts the final cost around $490
All put together, the cost of all the components inside the iPhone 11 Pro Max goes around $490.50. Now, that is not only $600 less than what we have to pay for iPhone 11 Pro Max but is also fairly less than the price of 16GB iPhone 6, which was sold at $649 back in the day. So, clearly, Apple is making some good money here.
Information
Note: Cost of software, assembly, marketing not included
Now, we know the difference is huge, but you should note that it's just the cost of making the phone. The cost we've put together doesn't include investment that goes into the software of the phone as well as into its R&D, marketing and assembly.