Apple iPhone 18 Pro price could rise to $1,399
Apple confirmed this week that rising memory chip costs will lead to price increases across its entire product line, and now the Wall Street Journal has published its own analysis estimating that prices for the Apple iPhone 18 Pro could start at as high as $1,399.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that his company is also affected by the sharply rising costs of memory chips. When asked which devices would see price increases and when these would occur, Cook replied, “We’re still working on that.” Further information is expected with the unveiling of the Apple iPhone 18 Pro generation in September.
The price increases are due to a global shortage of DRAM and NAND flash memory, primarily caused by competition among AI data centers for the same components. Manufacturers like Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology are shifting their production to memory chips for enterprise-scale AI servers, thus reducing the supply of consumer electronics such as the iPhone.
Apple iPhone 18 Pro storage four times more expensive
Citing an analysis by market research firm TechInsights, the Wall Street Journal reports that prices for DRAM and flash memory are expected to quadruple by fall of this year compared to last year. TechInsights estimates that Apple paid around $39 for the 12GB of DRAM in the iPhone 17 Pro – a price that could rise to $145 for the iPhone 18 Pro. The 256GB flash memory option, which cost Apple about $13 in the iPhone 17 Pro, could reach $51.
TechInsights estimates the component and manufacturing costs of the iPhone 17 Pro, excluding RAM, at approximately $530. Including DRAM and flash storage, the estimated material costs for the base model of the iPhone 17 Pro are around $582, while the cost of the Apple iPhone 18 Pro is expected to increase by 25% to approximately $726.
According to research by TechInsights, the iPhone 17 Pro, priced at $1,099, achieves a gross margin of approximately 47%. To maintain this margin with the Apple iPhone 18 Pro, Apple would need to charge $1,371. However, the Wall Street Journal notes that Apple’s preference for standardized pricing makes a starting price of $1,299 more likely, which would correspond to a margin of 44%.
This estimate does not take into account the new camera system, which, according to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, could cost Apple about 50% more than the previous generation. Including this additional cost, the Wall Street Journal estimates that Apple could set the starting price of the iPhone 18 Pro at $1,399 or higher.
A starting price in this range would represent a price increase of $200 to $300 compared to the $1,099 iPhone 17 Pro. The Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max is expected to be $100 more expensive than Apple’s price for the Pro, which corresponds to the current price difference between the two models. The iPhone 18 Pro models are expected to launch alongside the foldable iPhone Ultra, which is rumored to have a starting price of around $2,000.
At the same time, a leak this week has once again raised concerns about the durability of the new iPhones’ colors. Should this rumor prove true, Apple will likely face significant difficulties justifying the higher prices.
