Here's how much an iPhone 7 really costs Apple to make

By taking an iPhone 7 apart, a company figured out the phone is Apple's second-most expensive to date — at least in terms of parts.

But that's not the only reason iPhone devotees pay a premium: British analytics firm IHS Markit found that making the 7 costs Apple only about a third of sticker price.

At nearly $225 per phone — including assembly — the iPhone 7 is nearly as costly as the iPhone 6s Plus, which takes $236 per phone to make. 

Despite those high figures, Apple pulls a tidy profit on each phone. 

Today, the cheapest iPhone 7 you can get retails for $649, meaning the company nets more than $400 on every phone it sells.

The study didn't account for costs of marketing, packaging or research and development. But, as Quartz has pointed out, the cost figures are surprising given the "underwhelming" iPhone 7 — a device widely seen as a space-filler before the iPhone 8.

The launch of a revamped iPhone 8 will be timed to coincide with the first iPhone's 10th anniversary, and the device is rumored to have more exciting features on deck, including an iris scanner. 

While the iPhone 7 had a few upgrades, they were more incremental, including improved battery performance and a new body. One piece of good news is that IHS Markit confirms that it is — in fact — water resistant. 

But what Apple will charge for the rumored-to-be overhauled iPhone 8?

That's the million-dollar question.