Every year, as Apple unveils its latest iPhone, fans and tech enthusiasts around the globe eagerly line up to get their hands on the newest iteration of the device that has arguably reshaped our lives more than any other in the 21st century. But have you ever paused to wonder: what if, instead of purchasing the iPhone, you invested that money in Apple stock?

The Experiment

In a fascinating exercise of financial what-ifs, we've crunched the numbers to find out exactly how much you'd have today if you'd invested in Apple shares instead of buying an iPhone on each launch date since the smartphone's debut in 2007.

We matched each iPhone's launch price with the equivalent value of Apple stock on the day of the launch. We then tracked how much that investment would be worth today.

Which iPhones?

We’ve included what is arguably the flagship iPhone each year - so in years where there is a Plus iPhone or a Mini iPhone, we’ve gone with the regulars, and certainly no 5c or SE iPhones.

When Apple started launching Plus and Max phones, we’ve chosen to only include the regular Pro, (e.g. iPhone 12 Pro instead of iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro Max).

iPhone X

The only year we’ve really splashed out in our assumptions is 2017, when Apple launched the iPhone 8 and iPhone X together. There were delays with production of the notorious iPhone X, which meant some overzealous techies got the 8 and then rolled in to an X.

$123,000

If instead of buying each flagship iPhone, you had instead bought $AAPL, you’d have $123,000 now!

It would have cost you almost $14,000 to buy each of the iPhones, which you would have invested since 2007. That’s an IRR of 24.6%!

Use the interactive grid below to select which iPhones you bought and convert it into today’s value of Apple shares.