Each year, Apple phases out some iPhone models as it adds the new ones. But right now, the range is wider than it was a month ago. The first two models which were available a couple of weeks ago and have vanished now are the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro has just been cancelled, but now you have more iPhones to choose from than you … [+]
David PhelanThese are the only two iPhones capable of Apple Intelligence, apart from the iPhone 16 series. You could still pick one up from other retailers (though you might have to be quick or choose a refurbished model from Amazon, for example), but it’s gone from Apple.
The third iPhone that’s retired is the iPhone 13—and this is the key to the reason that the available range of iPhones has just grown.
The iPhone 13 came in two sizes, iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini. Both went on sale in Sept. 2021 and remained in the mix in Sept. 2022 when the iPhone 14 series launched. A year later, in Sept. 2023, the iPhone 13 was still on sale, but the iPhone 13 mini vanished, perhaps because the mini series had less success than originally envisaged.
That meant the total range last September was made up of the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, iPhone 14, 14 Plus and iPhone 13, along with the perennial iPhone SE. That’s eight phones in total.
This time around, though the iPhone 14 is the oldest phone in the range, its similarly-aged sibling, the iPhone 14 Plus, has not been dropped.
In other words, Apple will sell you nine different iPhones now. As always, iPhones from previous years are now more keenly priced. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, until a few weeks ago, cost $799 and $899 respectively. They’ve each dropped in price by $100, to $699 and $799. The phones from the year before have now had their prices cut by a similar amount, so the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus are now $599 and $699. The iPhone SE remains at the same price it launched at in 2022: $429.
Apple treads a careful line between offering as much choice as it can while not providing a bewildering range. And this year, there’s one more choice than last year.
