Apple’s next Pro iPhones are probably going to cost more. Price hikes aren’t uncommon even in annual releases, but with rising component costs and the RAM crisis, the damage was expected to be a lot more. Though a new report suggests otherwise.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are expected to receive $100 price increases over their current equivalents. So the approximate prices could now start at $1,199 and $1,299, respectively. The report arrives just hours before Apple’s September 9 launch event, so the official numbers are nearly here. It is still a price hike, of course. But after months of warnings that Apple could add $200 or even $300 to its flagship prices, $100 is beginning to look like the less painful outcome.
The price hike could have been much worse
Apple launched the iPhone 17 Pro at $1,099 and the Pro Max at $1,199, both with 256GB of starting storage. Earlier estimates for their successors varied considerably. IDC suggested a $200 increase, while other supply-chain forecasts pointed to a $250–$300 jump that could have pushed the smaller Pro as high as $1,399.
Bloomberg’s latest $100 estimate is therefore a meaningful change in expectations. It also lines up with some of the more restrained predictions we covered earlier this year, which suggested Apple might absorb part of the rising component costs rather than pass the entire increase on to buyers.
Memory prices are still making life difficult
Rising DRAM and NAND prices, combined with the cost of Apple’s next-generation silicon and camera hardware, have made the iPhone 18 Pro a considerably more expensive device to manufacture. The rumored A20 Pro chip and variable-aperture camera system are among the upgrades expected to contribute to that higher bill. So the pressure behind those forecasts has not disappeared.
Bloomberg’s report on Apple’s upcoming foldable iPhone says the company is absorbing some memory costs to keep its entry price around $2,000, while passing more of the expense on to buyers choosing larger storage configurations. This does not establish the Pro lineup’s storage pricing, but it is another reason to wait for Apple’s full price sheet before declaring the increase modest across the board.
The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are expected to debut at Apple’s “Surprise and shine” event on September 9 at 10 am PT. For now, $1,199 and $1,299 remain reported starting prices, not official announcements. But if Gurman’s information holds, Apple will have found a way to make its next flagship generation more expensive without delivering the $300 shock some buyers had been bracing for.
