The Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max has been out for a few months already with the headlining features being a 48MP main camera powered by Quad-Pixel sensor and Photonic engine, an A16 chip, a decent Always-On Display, and Dynamic Island. Although the handset is sold at a starting price of $1,099, an analysis of the bill of materials (BOM) for Apple"s latest hardware has now surfaced.
Counterpoint Research"s BOM analysis suggstes that the blended cost of the 128GB variant of an Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max is $474. Basically, the sub-6GHz model comes in at $454 while the mmWave SKU costs $474. They had a mix of 56% and 44% respectively. Overall, this is a 3.7% increase in cost compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max. And for those who remember, the $999 iPhone X from 2017 had a BOM of $358.
When it comes to the A16 Bionic processor, there is an estimated price bump of $11. Overall, the processor category now accounts for 20% of the total BOM cost. Similarly, the handset has an upgraded HDR display with a new Always-On Display feature, which has increased the display category"s share to 20% too. Additionally, the improved camera configuration has resulted in a cost increase of $6.30, accounting for 11% of the BOM cost.
In its totality, the usage of self-designed components by Apple has surged too. 22% of the overall BOM cost now comes from Apple"s own chips for PMIC, audio, connectivity, and touch control.
That said, it is important to understand that the BOM does not tell the full story; just because the components cost $464 doesn"t mean that Apple is charging more than double the actual cost. This is because a lot of other things factor into the overall cost too, such as research and development, marketing, assembling, labor, advertising, and more.
Source: Counterpoint Research