Report: iPhone 13 will not come with 64GB storage option. Will this move result in a price increase?

A report by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reveals some information about the upcoming iPhone 13. According to Kuo, the 64GB storage capacity option usually available for iPhones will no longer be offered for the iPhone 13 line up, and 1TB storage capacity will be offered for the Pro models for the first time ever.

The analyst reports that the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini will start at 128GB instead of the 64GB minimum. The storage capacity will then follow up at 256GB, and then the larger 512GB. Previously, the 512GB storage capacity was only offered for the iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone XS series.

As for the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max phones, they will be available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB configurations. Like we said previously, a 1TB option will mean that Apple will finally catch up to Samsung in that area, as company has already offered 1TB phones with the Galaxy S10 series almost two years ago.

Currently, Apple has only offered 1TB of storage on its most expensive iPad Pros. A 1TB iPad Pro starts from RM5,749, while 128GB model starts from RM3,499.

At the moment, the most expensive iPhone is the 512GB iPhone 12 Pro Max—which is priced at RM6,699. An iPhone 12 mini starts at RM3,399 for 64GB and RM3,599 for 128GB, while an iPhone 12 starts at RM3,899 for 64GB and RM4,099 for 128GB.

It’s not yet clear whether the removal of the 64GB option and the introduction of a 1TB option would increase the price of the line up. But I think it could be a safe bet, especially as Kuo also warns that the iPhone 13 could be affected by supply shortages.

“We believe that iPhone’s current production challenge is the component shortage. Due to the component shortage, the legacy models had been cut by about 5–10% in 3Q21. The iPhone 13 shipment in 4Q21 may have a potential downside risk due to component shortage,” said Kuo.

However, Kuo continues by saying that the shortage “has a limited impact on iPhone 13 shipments”. They believe that iPhone 13 shipments in 2021 “can grow by more than 10% YoY (vs. iPhone 12 shipments in 2020)”.

The analyst also says that they expect AirPods 3 and the Apple Watch 7 to be announced during the upcoming Apple event. You can attend the event online on 15 September 2021, at 1am Malaysian time.

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