The headline: iPhone prices will rise, but worst-case fears are fading
The coming iPhone price increase refers to Apple raising the retail prices of upcoming iPhone models because rising memory and storage costs can no longer be fully absorbed inside its own margins, forcing more of those costs onto customers while it tries to keep increases smaller than earlier forecasts suggested.
Tim Cook has stopped pretending the iPhone price story is business as usual. He has now said out loud that the higher cost and scarcity of memory and storage is something Apple can no longer absorb, which means “they’ll be passing it on to the customers.” At the same time, fresh analyst notes point to a far milder jump in iPhone 18 cost than the eye-watering predictions that dominated headlines a few months ago. That leaves buyers stuck in an awkward middle ground: prepared for pain, but unsure how much. Cook’s message is calculated. He is conditioning people to accept some iPhone price increase now so that, when the final numbers land below the worst-case chatter, Apple can claim it softened the blow rather than caused it.
Tim Cook’s mixed message: inevitability meets reassurance
Cook’s statements are a study in controlled contradiction. On one side, he is blunt: “Unfortunately price increases are unavoidable. We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases but the situation has become unsustainable.” On the other, he is letting analysts float smaller-than-expected hikes for the iPhone 18 series, an obvious attempt to cool public outrage before it fully ignites.
Earlier commentary suggested the iPhone 18 Pro could leap as much as USD 200 (around RM920) over the iPhone 17 Pro, driven by a sharply higher bill of materials. Now, a cited report pegs a typical increase at around USD 50 (approx. RM230) across the range. That swing—from a potential USD 200 (around RM920) shock to a USD 50 (approx. RM230) bump—lets Apple play both sides: the stern guardian forced into an iPhone price increase and the benevolent brand that “found a way” to keep the hike moderate. The messaging is less about transparency and more about expectation management.
Supply chain squeeze: Apple storage costs are the real villain
Behind the spin, the pressure is real. Cook ties the iPhone price increase to shortages of memory and storage components such as DRAM and NAND, saying rising costs are being pushed straight up the chain. Those parts have become one of the biggest headaches for smartphone makers, as AI companies hoard supply to feed data centres, driving prices up for everyone else.
In plain terms, Apple storage costs are under siege. Suppliers like Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron are ramping production but prioritising server chips for enterprise use, leaving fewer, more expensive chips for phones and tablets. According to one analyst report, Apple may soften the blow by using more of its own C‑series modem chips to cut reliance on Qualcomm, clawing back some margin even as component prices rise. Industry strategists even expect Apple to sign multi‑year deals with memory makers, with heavy pre‑payments to lock in future supplies. The result is a cost structure that almost guarantees higher shelf prices—but also gives Apple tools to stop those prices from exploding.
How much more could the iPhone 18 cost—and who should worry?
Projections for the iPhone 18 cost span a wide band, and that uncertainty is by design. Some analysts say the rise could be as high as USD 300 (approx. RM1,380), with examples suggesting that an iPhone 17 Pro starting at AUD 1,999 could imply an iPhone 18 Pro price of AUD 2,499, and an iPhone 17 Pro Max at AUD 2,199 could translate to an iPhone 18 Pro Max at AUD 2,699 if the upper estimates materialise. Other forecasts, however, now point to a USD 50 (approx. RM230) uptick instead of the earlier USD 200 (around RM920) scenario.
This spread puts buyers in a psychological bind. Everyone “knows” their next iPhone is going to be more expensive, but no one can tell if they are bracing for a small nuisance or a major budget hit. Power users eying the iPhone 18 Pro or a rumoured Ultra foldable in September will feel the squeeze hardest, while those content with older models may delay upgrades or hunt for discounted current stock. And because Apple kept iPhone 17 prices basically the same as iPhone 16 despite earlier warnings, many consumers now suspect the company is reclaiming that restraint in one big move.
Beyond iPhone: what this pricing shift means for Apple’s future
Cook’s warning is not limited to phones. All signs point to iPads and Macs also going up in price later this year as the same storage and memory dynamics hit larger devices. If AI data centres keep hoarding supply, Apple storage costs will remain elevated, and it is naive to expect the company to eat those increases forever. When Cook says future price rises are likely because rising memory costs can no longer be absorbed indefinitely, he is sketching a long‑term policy, not a one‑off excuse.
The bigger story is strategic. Apple is using the current squeeze to justify resetting the price baseline across its hardware, while using in‑house components and supplier deals to keep the optics tolerable. The tension for consumers is clear: expect to pay more, but hope that the iPhone 18 price increase lands closer to USD 50 (approx. RM230) than USD 300 (approx. RM1,380). In the end, the “good news” is relative. The damage may be less than you feared—but only because Apple has spent months teaching you to fear more.
