Apple’s iPhone is a decidedly premium brand of smartphone. Or to put it another way, iPhones have always been expensive.
While there’s still no such thing as a cheap iPhone, however, the line has expanded over the years to encompass multiple models at a broad range of price points. It might surprise you to learn that Apple currently lists eight distinct models on its website.
All of which begs the question: which iPhone gives you the best value for money?
‘Best value’ doesn’t mean the same thing as ‘cheapest’, of course. Value is all about getting the most for your money, while being cheap is all about the lowest price possible.
With that in mind, let’s focus on the value proposition of Apple’s current smartphone line-up.
The iPhone 14 isn’t the cheapest iPhone in Apple’s current line. In fact, it’s firmly middle of the pack. But it is arguably the best value.
It’s the cheapest model in the wider iPhone 14 family. At £699, it’s £100 less than the iPhone 14 Plus, and far cheaper than the now discontinued iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. But it’s functionally identical to the iPhone 14 Plus except for a smaller display and battery.
The iPhone 14 is also a lot cheaper than any phones in the newer iPhone 15 line, but Apple keeps its phones updated for a long time, so this will be supported for years yet.
It should also feel speedy for a long time, as it has a powerful A15 Bionic chipset. Its other specs don’t disappoint either, as its 6.1-inch screen is almost as good as the iPhone 15’s, and its dual-lens camera can take impressive photos.
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If you came here seeking to establish the cheapest iPhone on the market, then the answer is the iPhone SE 3rd Gen. Launched in March of 2022, the third iPhone SE starts at just £429 if bought outright, making it the most affordable phone Apple currently sells.
Despite this, the iPhone SE is plenty capable, with an excellent single-lens 12MP camera and the same A15 Bionic chipset that powers the iPhone 13 family. With 5G too, this one’s surprisingly future-proof.
We wouldn’t label it the best value iPhone due to its old design - this is essentially an iPhone 8 with updated innards. Its 4.7-inch LCD display, meanwhile, doesn’t match up to recent iPhones for sharpness or vibrancy.
But if you’re looking to get an iPhone for the lowest expenditure possible, the iPhone SE 3rd Gen is comfortably your best choice.
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The iPhone 15 is our pick of the best all-rounder, as with a starting price £799 it substantially undercuts the £999 iPhone 15 Pro or £1,199 iPhone 15 Pro Max, yet it’s one of the latest models and has a lot of upgrades from the iPhone 14.
These include a Dynamic Island rather than a notch, making for a refreshed and far more modern design.
The iPhone 15 also has a USB-C port for the first time on an iPhone, so it can be charged with all those USB-C cables you likely have lying around, and it has a powerful new 48MP main camera to join its 12MP ultra-wide.
Speaking of power, the iPhone 15’s A16 Bionic chipset is exceptionally capable, all of which combines to make this a superb phone for the money.
While the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are without doubt the best phones Apple has ever made, they’re not the best value.
The iPhone 15 Pro is remarkably similar to the iPhone 15, with near identical proportions, an almost identical 6.1-inch OLED display (albeit one with a higher 120Hz refresh rate), the same Dynamic Island, and only a slightly faster chipset.
It has an extra (telephoto) camera, but the camera offering is otherwise very similar indeed. And it has an extra customisable button and a titanium frame, but for most people these are minor upgrades.
We’d actually argue that the iPhone 15 Pro Max is better value, as you get a huge 6.7-inch display and better battery life for a little more than the Pro. But it’s still the most expensive phone in the range at £1,199, and its core offering remains remarkably similar to the standard iPhone 15.
Of Apple’s older models, aside from the iPhone 14 mentioned above and the larger iPhone 14 Plus, only the iPhone 13 continues to be sold by Apple.
We’ve talked about the iPhone 14 already, but the iPhone 14 Plus and iPhone 13 start at £799 and £599 respectively, making them reasonably affordable by Apple standards, and fairly good value, if not a match for our top picks above.
The iPhone 14 Plus is of course the best of these phones, offering a very similar experience to the standard iPhone 14 but with a bigger screen and battery, while the iPhone 13 is a slight step down from the iPhone 14, but has the same size screen.
Of course, the iPhone 14 line will be supported with software updates for longer than the iPhone 13, so we’d tend to recommend phones in that line over an iPhone 13.
