The Price of iPhone's Fell to a 12-Year Low Measured in Gold

“Apple hasn’t just kept iPhone prices stable for the past three years, it’s actually lowered them!” – that’s the headline we’d see if we paid for our new iPhone in gold, analyst firm Incrementum writes in its latest report.

The new iPhone 16 Pro, which has one terabyte of memory, costs just 0.6 ounces of gold – that’s 23 percent less than last year, when the iPhone 15 Pro cost 0.78 ounces of gold. Namely, the price of gold has risen by nearly 31 percent in dollars over the past 12 months, reaching new records in a row since December 2023.

The last time the price of an iPhone measured in gold was this low in 2012

Compared to 2022, the price of the iPhone, measured in gold, fell by almost a third. Since 2018, the price of the iPhone has fallen by as much as 50 percent. It was also the only year in which a gold investor had to shell out more than an ounce of gold (1.13 ounces) for a brand new iPhone. The latest iPhone model was cheaper than this year only in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Since 2007, the average iPhone price has been 0.74 ounces of gold.

A brand new phone costs significantly less gold than it did 17 years ago – in 2007, an iPhone cost 0.92 ounces of gold. However, you get a lot more for less gold. The development of the phone has been leaps and bounds, and its performance is not very comparable to the first iPhones.

However, the expectations regarding the sales numbers of the new phone are rather meager because the company has not yet been able to fully integrate the AI ​​functions. So it is likely that sales this year will be lower than previous years. For example, in the European Union, artificial intelligence functions are initially not available at all. According to Apple, the European Union’s digital market regulations are too strict for it.

At the same time, it is important to note that the price of the iPhone, even in dollars, has not increased for three years. Especially considering how high inflation has been during this time period. Of course, stable prices are very different from falling prices. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, the Pro model with the largest iPhone memory cost $1,499. The first iPhone cost $599 in 2007, so the price has increased by 150 percent.

This means that the price of the iPhone has increased by an average of 5.5 percent per year

For those who save in US dollars for the long term, buying an iPhone becomes more difficult every year. This is not the case for gold investors, as gold has appreciated nearly 290 percent in dollar terms in the iPhone era.

Key Takeaways

While the dollar price of iPhones has held steady in recent years, the true cost of an iPhone – when measured in gold – has reached historic lows.

This shift reflects not only Apple’s commitment to price stability but also the rapid appreciation of gold as a long-term store of value. For gold investors, the declining “gold price” of an iPhone underscores the metal’s role as a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation.

On the other hand, those relying solely on the US dollar find the iPhone increasingly expensive in real terms. With the iPhone 16 Pro priced at just 0.6 ounces of gold, tech enthusiasts and gold holders alike may see this as a unique opportunity to acquire more advanced technology for less gold.

However, despite the affordability in terms of gold, muted sales expectations due to lagging AI features and regional restrictions remind us that cutting-edge technology, too, has its limitations in certain markets.