[ UPDATE 08/09/2022 02:40 ] The iPhone 14 is priced from RM4,199 while the iPhone 14 Pro starts from RM5,299. iPhone 14 pre-orders in Malaysia begin on 16 September while stocks will be available from 23 September.
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If you’re thinking of buying a new iPhone in Malaysia, you might want to reconsider your plans as Apple has announced its “Far Out” event scheduled for 8th September (Malaysian time). If you’ve been following the latest developments, this is the event where the iPhone 14 series will be announced and this could be one of the earliest iPhone releases in a while.
In the past, Malaysians would have to wait at least a month before the new iPhone models are officially released in our local market. Although Malaysia is not among the first-wave countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore and Australia, we can see from the recent launches that Malaysia is gradually given priority with earlier pre-orders and availability.
Expected iPhone 14 pre-order and availability dates in Malaysia
As reference, here’s the official announcement and Malaysian pre-order and release dates for the last five iPhone series:
- iPhone X (2017) – Announced: 13 Sep, Pre-order: 17 Nov, Available: 24 Nov
- iPhone XS (2018) – Announced: 13 Sep, Pre-order: 19 Oct, Available: 26 Oct
- iPhone 11 (2019) – Announced: 11 Sep, Pre-order: 20 Sep, Available: 27 Nov
- iPhone 12 (2020) – Announced: 14 Oct, Pre-order: 6 Nov, Available: 13 Nov
- iPhone 13 (2021) – Announced: 15 Sep, Pre-order: 1 Oct, Available: 8 Oct
From the recent iPhone 12 and 13 launches, pre-orders were made available in Malaysia about two to three weeks after the keynote event. The delayed iPhone 12 launch and release can be considered an anomaly as Apple faced manufacturing disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also worth highlighting that the iPhone 11 series is the fastest release yet with pre-orders being open in Malaysia just a week after first wave countries.
Assuming that Apple maintains a two-week window for Malaysia and pre-orders traditionally start on a Friday, we predict that Malaysians could pre-order their new iPhone 14 devices on 23rd September and stocks will be available on 30th September. If Apple manages to buildup sufficient stockpile for a mass global release, the Cupertino company might surprise us this year with an earlier local pre-order as early as 16th September 2022, which is a week after first-wave countries.
According to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, the early iPhone 14 release this year would help them record higher fiscal fourth-quarter sales than last year, which is currently projected to hit a revenue of USD 89 billion (about RM398 billion). The early date also indicates that Apple has sorted out its supply chain despite the ongoing chip shortages and rising costs.
Expect a price increase for the iPhone 14
As reported earlier, the iPhone 14 series is set to be the most expensive iPhone yet. Well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is expecting a price hike of roughly 15% compared to the current iPhone 13 lineup. For reference, the current iPhone 13 64GB was launched with a starting price tag of RM3,399 (64GB) while the iPhone 13 Pro is priced from RM4,899 (128GB). The price hike shouldn’t come as a surprise due to the weaker Ringgit against US Dollars.
The iPhone 14 lineup will be different this year as Apple is expected to replace the compact 5.4″ iPhone mini model with a larger 6.7″ iPhone 14 Max. There were also speculation that only the iPhone 14 Pro models will run Apple’s newer A16 chip, while the standard iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max will continue to use the current A15 chip. Meanwhile, the Pro models are said to use higher-performance LPDDR5 RAM while the standard iPhone models will use LPDDR4X. If you hate the notch, Apple is expected to get rid of it for the upcoming Pro series in favour of two punch holes instead.
Related reading
- Apple iPhone 14 launch is happening on 8 Sept. Malaysian pre-orders may start as early as next month
- You shouldn’t believe this iPhone 14 mini and iPad rumour by a famous leaker. Here’s why
- The iPhone 14 series is set to be Apple’s most expensive iPhone yet
- iOS 16: 10 new features that are coming to the iPhone
