According to noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will sell an iPhone with a 6.7-inch screen for less than $900 in 2022 (via 9to5Mac). If this turns out to be the case, iPhone 14 buyers will have a less expensive way to get a screen size that Apple currently only sells on the 12 Pro Max, which starts at $1,099.
Kuo predicts that Apple’s 2022 non-pro iPhone lineup includes phones with 6.1 and 6.7-inch screens (the same sizes as the current iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, respectively). Absent is the iPhone Mini with its 5.7-inch screen. Analysts, including Kuo, have said that the Mini will be going away in 2022 due to reportedly low sales.
While some may mourn the loss of an actually small phone option, from Apple’s perspective, going big with its line of mainstream phones makes sense. We know from documents unearthed in the Epic v. Apple trial that Apple commissioned a report on the smartphone purchasing habits of consumers late last year. The report showed both that many customers were buying phones that had screens larger than six inches and that more people were turning to Samsung than Apple for their big phone needs.
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Both companies face a market that is slowing down, and one that is having to grapple with rising costs. If Apple has made the decision to make a lower-end big phone, it’s done so after seeing the research that many consumers want phones that are both bigger, and cheaper. While Apple has somewhat been working toward that goal (the iPhone 12, 11, and XR have all had 6.1-inch screens), it’s generally kept the really big phones at the high-end — next year could be its time to court users who want something bigger than 6.1-inches, but don’t want to spend over $1,000 to get it.
In addition to his prediction about the lower-end 6.7-inch iPhone, 9to5Mac also reports that Kuo said the 2022 iPhones will have under-display fingerprint readers, and that there will be a new iPhone SE with 5G.