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

Life
ByJames Dennin

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.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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.