The $1,399 iPhone 18 Pro makes sense, and that's the problem

The worst iPhone 18 and iPhone 18 Pro news came straight from Tim Cook, like we told you mere hours ago.

Yes, the upcoming flagship phones by Apple will be pricier. Anyone who kept a close eye on the industry in the past 10–15 months would've told you so. In fact, many of us predicted exactly that, but now's not the time to praise the Cassandras among us.

Instead, I'll tell you why this move by Apple makes a lot of sense – and it's not just about the higher BOM (bill of materials) that's plaguing gadgets left and right.

Poor Apple

As Tim Cook himself pointed out, there are "huge increases" that are being passed to Apple. The soon-to-be-leaving CEO said Apple was trying "to shield" its customers from the increases, but the situation has become "unsustainable".

Totally agree, Apple's market cap was $2.4 trillion in 2024 and as of June 2026, it's $4.346 trillion. Totally unsustainable.

Joking aside, Apple's price hikes were inevitable, regardless of whether the company's market cap goes up, down or sideways.

We're going through the RAMpocalypse era but hardly anyone enjoys it – component prices are way up. For example, the average price of a 64 GB DDR5 RAM kit has spiked dramatically from around $200 in early-to-mid 2025 to nearly $1,000 today.

You can thank AI and data centers for that.

Smartphones also took a blow and end users felt it: Xiaomi raised prices, the vanilla Galaxy S26 came with a $100 price hike at the start of 2026. Last year, the iPhone 17 Pro also got $100 more expensive (from $999 to $1,099), and so on.

How about a $1,399 iPhone?!



The way things are going, we could face a $1,399 iPhone 18 Pro Max come September.

See, the iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099 and comes with 256 GB of storage and 12 GB of RAM. According to TechInsights director of memory markets Mike Howard, those memory components could become dramatically more expensive soon.

Apple is estimated to have spent about $39 on the 12 GB RAM package inside the iPhone 17 Pro, but that figure could climb to as much as $145 for the iPhone 18 Pro. Storage costs are also expected to rise, with the 256 GB base configuration potentially increasing from around $13 to $51.

Overall, the bill of materials and manufacturing costs for the iPhone 18 Pro could jump from roughly $530 to $726. So, since Apple enjoyed a 47% margin on the iPhone 17 Pro, this would translate to a starting price of around $1,371 for its successor.

Apple typically prefers round, easy-to-follow pricing, so a $1,299 starting price is possible. But that estimate doesn't include a possible camera upgrade. If the new camera system costs roughly 50% more than the current one, the phone may ultimately debut with a $1,399 starting price. If that happens, I hope the price would be reserved for the Pro Max variant, while the standard-sized model "stays" at $1,299.

Better in 2026 than in 2027!

That's why Apple might actually be making a smart move by taking the hit this year instead of stretching things out.

Sure, higher prices could hurt iPhone 18 sales. There are only so many times people can hear "AI", "thinner design" or "better cameras" before deciding that their current phone is good enough. A $1,399 iPhone 18 Pro Max would be a psychological barrier for many buyers, and Apple knows that.

But 2027 is shaping up to be a critical year for Apple. That's when the iPhone turns 20, and reports suggest Apple is preparing something special for the occasion. Whether it's called the iPhone 20 or something else entirely, anniversary devices are supposed to generate excitement.

Imagine telling customers the anniversary job costs $100 or $200 more than an already expensive iPhone 18 Pro. That's not the kind of headline Apple wants.

Instead, raising prices now gives the company room to breathe. By 2027, component prices may have stabilized, and Apple could keep the iPhone 20 lineup at the same prices introduced with the iPhone 18 family. Oddly enough, that alone could become a selling point.

Short memories

People often have short memories when it comes to smartphone prices. The outrage over the iPhone X's $999 price tag faded. The complaints about the $1,199 iPhone 15 Pro Max disappeared. By the time the iPhone 20 arrives, many consumers will have forgotten the shock surrounding the iPhone 18 series.

And if Apple comes out on stage in 2027 and announces that the all-new anniversary iPhone starts at the same $1,299 or $1,399 price as the previous generation, some people might actually applaud. Even though those prices would've sounded outrageous earlier.

That's called thinking ahead. And if sacrificing some iPhone 18 sales today helps turn the iPhone 20 into a celebration instead of a controversy, Tim Cook and company will probably consider that a trade worth making.

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