We have now seen over 25 models for iPhones introduced in Malaysia since the iPhone 3G was launched way back in 2010. 13 years of launches later, we have arrived at the latest iteration of the popular smartphone from Cupertino.
The Apple iPhone has evolved from the phone that Steve Jobs showed for the first time at MacWorld 2007, with limited cellular capabilities but without any WiFi connectivity, to the latest behemoth that is the iPhone 15 with a trio of cameras and the latest USB-C port at the bottom.
In the table below, we are looking at the history of the iPhone launch prices here in Malaysia, from 2010 until to today:
*calculated with Department of Statistics Malaysia data
**calculated using xe.com
As you can see the data above, the iPhone has come a long way from the 3G – the first iPhone launched in Malaysia. From a paltry 8GB of storage, the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max has a base storage of 256GB and can go all the way to 1TB.
The prices have generally stayed on a consistent increased rate, with the biggest price jump happening with the introduction of the iPhone 6 Plus. It was reflected with the jump in the currency exchange from RM 3.27 to RM 4.42 per USD.
The iPhone 8 Plus meanwhile was the first model that went over the RM4,000 price point, and the first model that was priced above RM 5,000 was the iPhone X, which came into Malaysia only a couple of months later – a very short time for a drastic price jump. The latest iPhone 15 Pro Max meanwhile is the first base model iPhone to exceed the RM6,000 price point.
Historically, the favoured storage size for the base model were 16GB (8 models), 64GB (8 models) and 128GB (13 models). The iPhone 15 Pro Max is the first model to jump to 256GB storage for the base model.
It is also interesting to see that Apple was conservatively pricing their phones for the Malaysian market, even with the fluctuating exchange rates throughout the years – we could have seen pricier iPhone prices due to the unfavourable currency exchange, as well as higher production and shipping cost.
It must be said that Malaysia has consistently been in the list of top 10 countries around the world that has the cheapest iPhone prices, so in the grand scheme of things, our iPhone prices has been, well, affordable. Now if only their accessories are not that expensive….
