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James Martin/CNET
Unless you’re just waking up from a coma, you will have noticed that Apple launched some new iPhones overnight. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are the upgrades to last year’s models, with some key new features such as the 3D Touch responsive screen and a 12-megapixel camera capable of shooting 4K video.
Innovation doesn’t come cheap, however: The cheapest model in the new range, the 16GB version of the iPhone 6s, will set you back AU$1,079. At the top of the pops, the 128GB 6s Plus will cost you AU$1,529.
The Australian dollar is a big contributor to this. In fact, looking at the 16GB iPhone 6s once again, if you run the conversion on the US price of $649 and add the 10 percent GST then you’re spending AU$1,022.
Traditionally, a new phone range for Apple has heralded a price drop on the previous generation. When the 6 and 6 Plus launched last year, the iPhone 5s dropped AU$129 off its launch price for the 16GB model (down from AU$869 to AU$749) and the 32GB came in at AU$200 cheaper than its previous RPP (AU$799 down from AU$999).
This time around, not only has there been no price drop, Apple has actually increased the pricing on last year’s phones. The 16GB iPhone 6 launched last year at AU$869. It will now cost you AU$929. The full pricing details are:
| Model | iPhone 6 16GB | iPhone 6 64GB | iPhone 6 Plus 16GB | iPhone 6 Plus 64GB |
| Launch Price | AU$869 | AU$999 | AU$999 | AU$1,129 |
| New Price | AU$999 | AU$1,079 | AU$1,079 | AU$1,299 |
The 16GB version of the iPhone 5s remains at AU$749, but the 32GB has had a price change as well. It’s gone from AU$999 at launch to AU$799 last year. Now it’s back up to AU$829.
If this seems outrageous, take a breath and remember that last year, the Aussie dollar got you $0.92. That’s down to under AU$0.70 at the time of writing. The Apple Watch remains the same cost and we’ll need to wait and see if the new Apple TV will mean a price drop for the previous model.
