As the Apple event progressed and reached the price reveal part, I breathed a sigh of relief. The iPhone Duo, contrary to rumors, starts at just $2,000, undercutting the competition from the likes of Samsung. The iPhone 18 Pro, on the other hand, only went up by $100 compared to its predecessor.
Apple, according to analysts, absorbed the rising price of components to a large extent, while the industry reels under extreme stress. Who knew Apple had a hidden trick up its sleeve to balance the scales? Well, the company has raised the asking price of the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, and even the two-year-old iPhone 16 by $100 in the US.
The iPhone 16 now starts at $799, up from its original asking price of $699.The iPhone 17e will now cost $699, while the iPhone 17 has climbed all the way up to $899. The iPhone Air, on the other hand, reaches the $1,099 price point. The iPhone 17 Pro, its Max variant, has been discontinued, now that the iPhone 18 Pro duo is ready to hit the shelves. The price hike is not surprising.
In the Android ecosystem, there is hardly a brand that has not raised the price of its flagships this year, or gone back to revise the price of phones that have already been on the shelf for months. The price hike on Apple’s non-Pro smartphones spanning the iPhone 17 and 16 series is comparatively mellow for the US market, but they are going to hit the wallets of buyers outside the US market pretty hard.
