Nobody was pleased with the $100 price hike that was announced a week ago when the iPhone 18 Pro Max and the 18 Pro arrived, but nobody was surprised, either.
That's what Samsung (with the Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy Z Fold 8 lineups) and Google (with the Pixel 11 family) have also done in 2026.
But Apple is raising prices on repairing services for the new Pro phones, too.
$10 more for a battery replacement
$10 more is probably not that big of a deal and it won't fatally hurt your wallet, but it sure does leave a bad taste in your mouth. $10 is the price hike for the battery replacement on the iPhone 18 Pro Max and the iPhone 18 Pro, per the company's own site.
It's okay, I was buying an iPhone 18 in the spring anyway
12.71%
Genius move from Apple
14.36%
I don't care, I'm buying an iPhone 18 Pro
20.99%
Let's hope you won't need this soon
Given that the iPhone 18 Pro Max and the iPhone 18 Pro are only days old, I suspect you won't be needing that particular service right away. Apple's warranty doesn't cover accidental damage or batteries that wear down from normal use. Hopefully, there'll be many months—and, better yet, years—before your iPhone 18 Pro's battery gets degraded.
The Apple Watch moment
But it looks fancy! | Image by Apple
It's not just iPhones that are getting pricier to repair without AppleCare+.
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The new ceramic Apple Watch Series 12 may look fancy, but the repair bill is where things get really ugly. Without AppleCare+, fixing "other damage" will reportedly cost $599, a hefty $50 more than repairing the Apple Watch Ultra 4 and $100 more than the previous Ultra. Even the $99 battery replacement isn't exactly pocket change, while repairing the regular aluminum Series 12 costs $349, almost the price of the watch itself.
AppleCare+ brings the service fee down to $69 for the Series 12, but that means paying for coverage on top of an already expensive smartwatch.
Sebastian is one of PhoneArena’s senior opinionators. A veteran news writer with almost 20 years of experience in media and technology, he not only covers all the hot news about Galaxies and iPhones, but often provides hot takes on industry trends. He’s fascinated with camera-focused flagships from the likes of Oppo and Vivo, as well as foldable phones.
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