Apple iPhone 5 Price: How Much Will You Pay?

Only today we at OSM have reported on the possibilities for the iPhone 5 of media streaming and other types of connection, we have also sparked a bit of a debate about a 3D iPhone 5 competing with the Nintendo 3DS and how there is a new component that has seen investment although nobody knows what it is!

We all know the iPhone 4 has just arrived on Verizon with the CDMA chip incorporated but that doesn't stop the speculation of 'the next device'. Something that will affect everyone's judgment when buying any cell phone from any manufacturer is always the cost. We want to bring you some of the previous pricing details from Apple of when they have released the previous Apple iPhones, so here goes.

The original iPhone was introduced on January 9th and then on January 29th 2007 after much speculation similar to that of today, this is where it all began. Of course, it was released with exclusivity to AT&T and on the launch day, hundreds of people queued outside the AT&T and Apple stores DAYS before the release. The device then hit Europe around 5 months later where it has been a hit since. It was originally priced at $499 for the 4GB, $599 for the 8GB and then the 16GB version came in at a later date priced at $499.

The successor to the original iPhone was the iPhone 3G (2nd Generation), this device was again introduced on January 9th and then later released on July 11th 2008. The prices of this device looked like this 8GB was $199 and the 16GB was in at $299. Quite a significant reduction from its predecessor.

Again, the iPhone 3G was overtaken by the iPhone 3GS (3rd Generation), which was introduced on June 8th 2009 at WWDC and later released June 19th 2009. It was priced like this, the 16GB at $199 and the 32GB at $299.

As for the iPhone 4, it was announced on June 7th again at the WWDC event and then later released on June 24th 2010. The pricing looked like this, $199 for the 16GB and $299 for the 32GB; of course you could pay more and get this device unsubsidized for $499 and $599. Since then we have seen the iPhone 4 also move onto the Verizon carrier and release a slightly updated handset with a CDMA chip inside, read more about it by clicking here.

The thing to bear in mind, with most of the prices above there were also contractual agreements with the carrier. So whilst the prices shown were the price of the device on their network, you then had to pay a monthly fee for the privilege of using your shiny new iPhone. However, there is a definite pattern, our opinion is that Apple learned from their original mistake of pricing themselves out of the market with the 1st generation of iPhone, they then continued into its successor with a much more reasonable price and saw success. With the next devices, they simply did the same, kept the price lower and kept the success.

Now things are heating up in the mobile world, more and more devices are catching up to the dizzy standards set by Apple, which means there is more competition for custom. We have high expectations of the Apple iPhone 5 when it eventually comes along. But what we want to know from you is how much are you prepared to pay for an iPhone 5? Do you think Apple will continue the trend of pricing, put it up or lower the price? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.