A new analysis details Apple's historical pricing trends with the iPhone, and predicts that the 256-gigabyte "iPhone 7s Plus" could reach a price as high as $1100, with the "iPhone 8" at that point or even higher.
Asymco's Horace Dediu has published a breakdown of new iPhone pricing that he calls the "staircase model," dating back to the original release. The graphs shows a "high degree of consistency of pattern" with the floor of the staircase a consistent $400, with the ceiling growing every three years by $100, now sitting at $950 for a 256GB iPhone 7 Plus.
Dediu notes that should historical trends for the last decade continue, the ceiling is due for another $100 jump this year, with the ceiling hitting $1100 for some model of the device -- likely any "iPhone 7S Plus" and probably the "iPhone 8" as well.
There are changes in pattern, such as the iPhone SE, and the increase in storage to 256GB. However, the impact of a full-featured device like the rumored iPhone 8 would likely be one of those pattern-shifts in the upwards direction as well.
As a result of the staircase pricing, the average price of the phone stays mostly the same, minus effects of outlying models, like the iPhone SE and possibly the "iPhone 8."
"The iPhone can be seen as controllingthe $650 point, the Mac $1200, the iPod $200 and the iPad $450," writes Dediu. "Thispricing signals the product's value and the value of thebrand."
Speculation has emerged that the tech-loaded "iPhone 8" would likely retail for $1000 or more, with some discussions centering around a $1200 price point.