Last month, the iPhone 16 series finally landed in Mzansi, and we’ve been glued to our screens watching all the teardown videos, iOS 18 tips & tricks and drop tests. Now, a new report is giving us a peek behind the curtain, revealing the Bill of Materials (BOM) for the iPhone 16 Pro Max – basically, how much it costs Apple to make one.
Here in South Africa, the iPhone 16 Pro Max 256GB will set you back a cool R32,000, and this is not even the most expensive phone in Apple’s lineup. The same device in the US retails for $1,199 ( R20,955). But hold onto your wallets, because the actual cost of the parts is way lower. This isn’t unusual though – smartphone makers always have extra costs like shipping, research and development, and expensive marketing campaigns . In South Africa, you also need to factor in VAT and ad valorem ( Luxury Tax ) to the price, which together account for between 24% and 30% of the input costs.
So, what’s the real cost? As per a report by analysts at TD Cowen, the BOM for the iPhone 16 Pro Max 256GB is about $485 or R8,500, a bit more than the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s $453 or R7,900. This makes sense, considering the upgrades like a beefier chip, a bigger battery that can hopefully last a full day, a larger display and the new Camera Control button.
The report says the screen and the rear camera system are the priciest parts, each costing about R1,400 – that’s a whopping 16% of the total BOM! Last year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max had cheaper versions of these, at R1,350 and R1,260 respectively. Other interesting bits: the new LPDDR5X RAM now costs R306 (up from R216), the Bionic chip is R810, and storage is R450.
That new Camera Control button? It adds about R342 to the cost, just R54 more than the Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
The bottom line? With a BOM of R8,500, Apple’s still making a tidy gross margin of about 60%, giving more than enough wiggle room to cover all those other expenses and still make a massive profit. Just another day in the life of a tech giant, I guess!
