With some manufacturers having already raised prices due to the memory crunch, upcoming smartphones are expected to go up in price. Until today, Apple was expected to weather the storm and keep iPhone 18 and iPhone 18 Pro prices stable. Apple CEO Tim Cook has dashed those hopes.
Cook says price hikes are 'unavoidable'
Apple CEO Tim Cook exclusively told The Wall Street Journal that the company cannot hold off on raising prices any longer.
Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable. We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable.
Tim Cook, Apple CEO, June 2026
Though Cook didn't directly refer to the iPhone 18, it will likely be affected. Other products, such as iPads, might suffer soon.
How much more would you pay for the iPhone 18 Pro?
The AI add-on
To maintain its current profit margin, Apple will have to raise the price of the iPhone 18 Pro by around $270, per research firm TechInsights.
Unprecedented demand from AI companies has created a memory and storage chip shortage, putting even a company like Apple, which is known for its supply chain prowess, in limbo.
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There’s less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases. We definitely need memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels for consumer products. That’s the bottom line.
Tim Cook, Apple CEO, June 2026
How much will the iPhone 18 cost?
iPhone 18 Pro might start at $1,399. | Image by The Wall Street Journal
Apple has always used storage tiers as a differentiator, charging between $100 and $200 for jumps that cost it a small percentage of that. With the company announcing new AI features, its new phones are going to need more RAM, which Apple could use to justify the hike.
The iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099 for 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. By fall, these components could cost four times more, per TechInsights' director of memory markets Mike Howard.
Apple is believed to have paid $39 for the 12GB of RAM in the 17 Pro, and could be paying up to $145 for it for the iPhone 18 Pro. The storage price is projected to increase from $13 to $51 for the base model.
Apple's total cost for the iPhone 17 Pro parts and manufacturing is around $530. This could rise 25% to $726 for the iPhone 18 Pro. TechInsights believes that Apple's margin on the iPhone 17 Pro was 47%. This could mean a starting price of $1,371 for the iPhone 18 Pro.
However, since Apple likes standardized pricing, the iPhone 18 Pro might start at $1,299, which would be a 44% gross profit margin. That's before accounting for an improved camera system that is expected to cost 50% more than the one in the iPhone 17 Pro. With that cost factored in, the iPhone 18 Pro could start at $1,399.
A shock
A recent rumor said that the base iPhone 18 model would retain the $799 starting price of the iPhone 17 despite a RAM jump from 8GB to 12GB.
Before that, a report hinted that Apple would hold or only slightly hike the iPhone 18 Pro's price to gain an advantage over Android phone makers who were raising prices.
The iPhone 18 Pro is rumored to feature the A20 Pro chip based on the more advanced 2nm tech, a better camera system, and a smaller Dynamic Island.
While substantial, those aren't the kind of groundbreaking upgrades most customers would pay an additional $200 or $300 for. What might compel them, though, are the new Siri features, which only work on devices with 12GB of RAM. So while iPhone 17 Pro users may sit this one out, diehards with older models might pull the trigger.
This story is still developing. We will update the article with more information as soon as possible.
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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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