Research firm IHS has conducted its yearly teardown of the iPhone 7, and found that the materials that make up Apple’s latest flagship cost an estimated $224.80. Considering that the phone costs $649, that would seem to leave plenty of room for profit!
However, as this chart from Statista shows, that estimation makes the new phone the priciest Apple has made in years – and by a good margin. It’s about $13 more expensive than last year’s iPhone 6s, and nearly $30 more than 2011’s iPhone 4s.
It’s also worth remembering that the bill of materials is only a small part of a phone's overall cost. Manufacturing (shown in red), sales and marketing, and R&D all have to be covered as well. Apple’s margins will still be huge, but it appears as the iPhone 7’s changes are a little more significant than its familiar design would suggest.
