How much will the iPhone 8 cost?

Anticipation around the launch of Apple’s iPhone 8 is building ahead of the device’s expected September 2017 arrival.

But will the new phone see its base price rise above the typical $649 we’ve come to expect from past iPhone rollouts?

Read more: This is the #1 wireless network in America

Buzz builds around the iPhone 8…

The iPhone 8 is poised to be one of the most revolutionary iterations of Apple’s flagship device.

2017 marks the 10th anniversary of the iPhone and chief among the rumored upgrades are a curved OLED screen and another new charging port, according to the Wall Street Journal.

OLED stands for organic light-emitting diodes and it’s the same technology that allowed the LG Flex to have curved contours.

One factor that could drive up the price of the iPhone 8 is the battery. The battery gets larger and more powerful with each iteration — noted in milliamp Hours (mAh) used to measure the energy capacity of a battery — as you can see in this chart from NewsAtlas.

Apple has sometimes faced the wrath of iPhone owners over battery life issues, particularly those documented in the iPhone 6 and 6s.

Thankfully, the company reports that battery life problems seem to have diminished by installing iOS 10.2.1 on those particular phones.

Having said that, if the iPhone 8 does have a larger battery than the iPhone 7, it will almost certainly drive up the cost of the phone.

That’s because the price of cobalt — a key element used in lithium ion batteries — has risen almost 50% since September 2016 to a five-year high of around $19 a pound, according to Business Insider.

While the majority of cobalt consumption by industry comes from electric car makers like Tesla, cobalt is also a main component in the kinds of batteries used in the iPhone.

So a bigger battery means more cobalt, which means that Apple will have to pay higher prices for this commodity.

Some people are already beginning to speculate that the base price of the iPhone 8 could be $699 because of the increase in cobalt prices.

If the iPhone 8’s base model does come in at $699, that would be an increase of roughly 8% over the $649 base price of the iPhone 7.

We’ll just have to wait and see what the final price is…

Here’s a way to save money on an iPhone

And yet no matter what the price is, there’s always a way you can save money: Buying a reconditioned phone that’s at least one generation old!

Clark recalls how when the iPhone 6 was new, the base price was $649. So when his daughters broke their phones, he found them deals on a couple of reconditioned iPhone 5c smartphones. They were less than $200 each vs. $649 for the latest and greatest technology.

By not getting the latest generation of technology, you can save hundreds of dollars!  

Just remember to always look one generation back and for a refurb to really maximize your savings.

Read more: There’s now a way to fix iPhones that randomly shut down

Scam alert: Fake iPhone apps

Source: Scam alert: Fake iPhone apps by Clark on Rumble