The iPhone 17 is the 19th generation of iPhone. The Pro Max is the 50th iPhone model and the 2TB version is the 158th variant, not including color variations. The table showing all the previous variants, models and generations is shown below.

Config #	Model #	Generation	Year of launch	Model	Memory (GB)
1	1	1	2007	iPhone	4
2	1	1	2007	iPhone	8
3	1	1	2007	iPhone	16
4	2	2	2008	3G	8
5	2	2	2008	3G	16
6	3	3	2009	3GS	8
7	3	3	2009	3GS	16
8	3	3	2009	3GS	32
9	4	4	2010	4	8
10	4	4	2010	4	16
11	4	4	2010	4	32
12	5	5	2011	4S	8
13	5	5	2011	4S	16
14	5	5	2011	4S	32
15	5	5	2011	4S	64
16	6	6	2012	5	16
17	6	6	2012	5	32
18	6	6	2012	5	64
19	7	7	2013	5C	8
20	7	7	2013	5C	16
21	7	7	2013	5C	32
22	8	7	2013	5S	16
23	8	7	2013	5S	32
24	8	7	2013	5S	64
25	9	7	2013	SE	16
26	9	7	2013	SE	32
27	9	7	2013	SE	64
28	9	7	2013	SE	128
29	10	8	2014	6	16
30	10	8	2014	6	64
31	10	8	2014	6	128
32	11	8	2014	6 Plus	16
33	11	8	2014	6 Plus	32
34	11	8	2014	6 Plus	64
35	12	9	2015	6S	16
36	12	9	2015	6S	32
37	12	9	2015	6S	64
38	12	9	2015	6S	128
39	13	9	2015	6S Plus	16
40	13	9	2015	6S Plus	32
41	13	9	2015	6S Plus	64
42	13	9	2015	6S Plus	128
43	14	10	2016	7	32
44	14	10	2016	7	128
45	14	10	2016	7	256
46	15	10	2016	7 Plus	32
47	15	10	2016	7 Plus	128
48	15	10	2016	7 Plus	256
49	16	11	2017	8	64
50	16	11	2017	8	128
51	16	11	2017	8	256
52	17	11	2017	8 Plus	64
53	17	11	2017	8 Plus	128
54	17	11	2017	8 Plus	256
55	18	12	2018	X	64
56	18	12	2018	X	256
57	19	12	2018	Xr	64
58	19	12	2018	Xr	128
59	19	12	2018	Xr	256
60	20	12	2018	Xs	64
61	20	12	2018	Xs	256
62	20	12	2018	Xs	512
63	21	12	2018	Xs Max	64
64	21	12	2018	Xs Max	256
65	21	12	2018	Xs Max	512
66	22	13	2019	11	64
67	22	13	2019	11	128
68	22	13	2019	11	256
69	23	13	2019	11 Pro	64
70	23	13	2019	11 Pro	256
71	23	13	2019	11 Pro	512
72	24	13	2019	11 Pro Max	64
73	24	13	2019	11 Pro Max	256
74	24	13	2019	11 Pro Max	512
75	25	14	2020	SE	64
76	25	14	2020	SE	128
77	25	14	2020	SE	256
78	26	14	2020	12 mini	64
79	26	14	2020	12 mini	128
80	26	14	2020	12 mini	256
81	27	14	2020	12	64
82	27	14	2020	12	128
83	27	14	2020	12	256
84	28	14	2020	12 Pro	128
85	28	14	2020	12 Pro	256
86	28	14	2020	12 Pro	512
87	29	14	2020	12 Pro Max	128
88	29	14	2020	12 Pro Max	256
89	29	14	2020	12 Pro Max	512
90	30	15	2021	13 mini	128
91	30	15	2021	13 mini	256
92	30	15	2021	13 mini	512
93	31	15	2021	13	128
94	31	15	2021	13	256
95	31	15	2021	13	512
96	32	15	2021	13 Pro	128
97	32	15	2021	13 Pro	256
98	32	15	2021	13 Pro	512
99	32	15	2021	13 Pro	1024
100	33	15	2021	13 Pro Max	128
101	33	15	2021	13 Pro Max	256
102	33	15	2021	13 Pro Max	512
103	33	15	2021	13 Pro Max	1024
104	34	16	2022	14 Pro	128
105	34	16	2022	14 Pro	256
106	34	16	2022	14 Pro	512
107	34	16	2022	14 Pro	1000
108	35	16	2022	14 Pro Max	128
109	35	16	2022	14 Pro Max	256
110	35	16	2022	14 Pro Max	512
111	35	16	2022	14 Pro Max	1024
112	36	16	2022	14	128
113	36	16	2022	14	256
114	36	16	2022	14	512
115	37	16	2022	14 Plus	128
116	37	16	2022	14 Plus	256
117	37	16	2022	14 Plus	512
118	38	17	2023	15 Pro	128
119	38	17	2023	15 Pro	256
120	38	17	2023	15 Pro	512
121	38	17	2023	15 Pro	1024
122	39	17	2023	15 Pro Max	256
123	39	17	2023	15 Pro Max	512
124	39	17	2023	15 Pro Max	1000
125	40	17	2023	15	128
126	40	17	2023	15	256
127	40	17	2023	15	512
128	41	17	2023	15 Plus	128
129	41	17	2023	15 Plus	256
130	41	17	2023	15 Plus	512
131	42	18	2024	16 Pro	128
132	42	18	2024	16 Pro	256
133	42	18	2024	16 Pro	512
134	42	18	2024	16 Pro	1024
135	43	18	2024	16 Pro Max	256
136	43	18	2024	16 Pro Max	512
137	43	18	2024	16 Pro Max	1024
138	44	18	2024	16	128
139	44	18	2024	16	256
140	44	18	2024	16	512
141	45	18	2024	16 Plus	128
142	45	18	2024	16 Plus	256
143	45	18	2024	16 Plus	512
144	46	18	2024	16e	128
145	46	18	2024	16e	256
146	46	18	2024	16e	512
147	47	19	2025	17	256
148	47	19	2025	17	512
149	48	19	2025	Air	256
150	48	19	2025	Air	512
151	48	19	2025	Air	1024
152	49	19	2025	17 Pro	256
153	49	19	2025	17 Pro	512
154	49	19	2025	17 Pro	1024
155	50	19	2025	17 Pro Max	256
156	50	19	2025	17 Pro Max	512
157	50	19	2025	17 Pro Max	1024
158	50	19	2025	17 Pro Max	2048

Each of these models had a starting price (unlocked, US Apple store price in USD, before taxes, subsidies, etc.) The price and duration of sales period are shown in the following diagram (click on picture for full-size view.)

The eye is naturally drawn to the upper right corner where the new top-of-the-line iPhone 17 Pro Max 2TB variant is priced at $1999. This is not unexpected as the introduction of higher memory or “Pro” variants has broadened the upper end of the price range in a more-or-less regular cadence. Historically these increases were every three years but we’ve now gone four without a jump.

However, the delay is made up for by a significantly higher gap up. Only in 2018, with the launch of the Xs, did we see as significant a jump ($400) as we did today. Unlike in 2018, there are no other variants filling the gap. There is no $1899 iPhone or a $1799 or $1699 either. The next model is the 17 Pro Max 1TB at $1599. It also happens to be the same price as the 16 Pro Max 1TB, as indeed all the other 16->17 upgrades kept the same price.

The price “slots” are all filled nicely including with the typical decrease in price by $100 for year-old variants, the 16 Plus 256, 16 Plus 128 and 16 128. Since the SE was withdrawn last spring, the entry point for a new iPhone is down to $599, now the “floor” of the price band.

And so the “stairway to heaven”, as this graph came to be known persists. It’s a graduate level thesis on pricing which speaks volumes on pricing power, especially relative to the Android alternatives and to almost every other consumer electronics category. I won’t repeat the observations made about this pattern over the years but I will say that the point Apple wishes to make is that if you want an iPhone, there is one at every price you can afford, and used ones are still available well below the floor new iPhones sell at. By stretching the band upward, it provides greater storage and more functions bundled to those who really need it.

However, one problem with this graph is that it does not account for inflation. Taking the month of June 2025 (the last for which data is available,) the adjustment for 2007 is 1.53. In other words prices now are are 53% more expensive (as are wages, mostly). If we were to present the pricing data at constant June 2007 dollars, it would look like this:

Note that I am showing the unadjusted and adjusted graphs next to each other so that a comparison can be made at a glance. The density of the data does not permit the labeling of the adjusted graph in its entirety and the hundreds of lines needed cannot be made consistent in color across the two graphs.

Nonetheless, the inflation adjusted data is startling. Excluding the 2TB outlier, the inflation adjusted graph is peaking at around $1000 with the median below $700. Shockingly, that median is almost exactly the same as the iPhone 3G’s launch price of 2008 and one can visually trace a line across the whole graph maintaining this average selling price to the present. The outlier $1999 2025 iPhone would be a $1300 2007 price point. Not cheap but it exceeds in storage and performance any laptop costing $4000 back then.

From its inception, the iPhone was labeled “expensive”, “exclusive” or “premium,” somehow not for everyone. But 3 billion sold and 1.5 billion users later this is obviously wrong. It is very much a mainstream product. Almost 1 in 5 human beings on the planet are using it [although it be the wealthiest 20%]. But it did not get there by lowering prices. Not even for those living in countries with far lower income levels. It got there by keeping prices steady while improving performance exponentially and adding new measures of performance that nobody asked for but everyone wanted.

There is something quite extraordinary about this product. And it’s not anywhere near being done improving. It still elicits an increase in heartbeat and a dilation of the pupils. I always said it’s in the market for hormones.

Speaking of, the same price band analysis can be applied to the iPad, Mac, and AirPods. Not yet to the Vision Pro, which tells you something. But the Watch, that’s another classic segmentation story. Now it seems to be ready to diagnose the rise in blood pressure you’re likely to get by looking at these graphs.