Apple allegedly decided to make a second, less expensive iPhone Max in 2022 after it saw this report
A couple of bombshell reports on Apple's future roadmap came out yesterday from the one and only Ming-Chi Kuo, where the secretive supply chain insider predicts that Touch ID won't be coming to this year's iPhone family after all, but the biggest revelation was that next year, in 2022, there will be a new and cheaper large-screen iPhone Max model. The report relayed by 9to5Mac underlines a few of the key specifications of the upcoming model.
First mentions of Touch ID making its way onto the 2021 iPhone lineup came from a January report by the usually very reliable Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, but it seems that Apple has decided to withhold those plans for next year.
As for the new big iPhone, allegedly called just iPhone 14 Max, rumors on the street are that Apple made up its mind after it saw the results of a report on smartphone purchasing habits of consumers that it commissioned late last year.
The report showed that phones with larger than 6" screens were preferred by many consumers AND at the same time, arch-rival Samsung dominated this category. Note that the report was ordered last year when Apple did not yet have the 6.1" models and its iPhone 11 Pro measures 5.8", below that 6-inch threshold.
Results from a consumer purchase habit report ordered by Apple were a deciding factor in green lighting a less expensive iPhone Max for 2022
Allegedly, this combined with the lower-than-expected sales of the iPhone mini flipped a switch over at Cupertino and ultimately convinced Apple that it should make a cheaper "Max" iPhone.
With that model, here is what the 2022 iPhone lineup should look like:
- iPhone 14 with a 6.1" screen and $800 price
- iPhone 14 Max with a 6.7" screen and $900 price
- iPhone 14 Pro with a 6.1" screen and $1,000 price
- iPhone 14 Pro Max with a 6.7" screen and a $1,100 price
So far, the only thing we know about this slightly more affordable iPhone 14 Max model is the price of $900, which is more competitive than even the price of the current Galaxy S21+ model that is sold for $1,000. Also, that model will lack some features like the new Touch ID under-display fingerprint scanner. That feature will likely remain reserved for the Pro models.
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