iPhone 18 Pro renders | Image Credit - AppleInsider
Some Apple iPhone 18 models might cost more than their iPhone 17 equivalents, claims South Korea-based leaker yeux1122. Their analysis is based on outlooks from financial institutions Citigroup, Bank of America, and J.P. Morgan Research.
Rising memory costs will drive up the prices of select iPhone 18 variants
Higher-capacity iPhone 18 models will likely cost more.
Based on predictions from major financial services firms, soaring RAM and NAND storage prices will impact the iPhone 18 series.
Despite Apple's formidable supply chain control and negotiating leverage, the unprecedented surge in memory costs will inevitably inflate expenses.
Apple is likely to pass some of that price increase to customers. Apparently, low-capacity iPhone 18 models will be priced the same as last year, while higher-capacity versions will cost more. The price jump will increase with each subsequent storage tier, so customers can expect to pay more than ever before for larger storage options.
Companies don't want to take a hit on margins
It's probably not just Apple that is going to raise the prices of its products, as rising memory and storage component prices have left companies with no other choice. The only other option is absorbing the increase, and Apple is doing that to some extent by keeping the price of base models steady.
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This will likely hurt demand, and analytics firms already expect shipments to decline this year.
Prices of memory have risen due to a supply shortage caused by soaring demand from AI companies, and are expected to continue to increase over the next two years. Freedom Capital Markets' managing director and head of technology research, Paul Meeks, had previously said that the hike would be too significant not to affect Apple.
Over the next two years, the rise in the cost of memory components will be so much that it will even ding a company the size of Apple.
Paul Meeks, Freedom Capital Markets' managing director, January 2025
In November, Apple's CFO, Kevan Parekh, acknowledged that rising memory prices were making new products costlier to build, but stressed that the company was managing costs well.
If Apple raises prices for higher-capacity iPhone 18 models, what will you do?
I'll still buy a high-capacity model.
7.69%
I'll be forced to get a base model.
7.69%
I'll skip this generation.
84.62%
Will customers be willing to pay more for the iPhone 18?
Apple has also signed a deal with Google to power the iPhone's AI feature, and while the iPhone 15 Pro and more advanced models also support AI, Apple will likely reserve at least some features for the iPhone 18 Pro.
These changes might justify the price hikes for some customers, while others will stick with base variants or skip the generation altogether.
Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.
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