Apple Preparing to Increase iPhone Prices

[MacRumors]

Apple is preparing to raise iPhone prices following similar moves from Samsung and Google, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Apple raised prices on almost every major product category two months ago, with affected Macs and iPads rising about 23% on average. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that the iPhone faces the same memory and chip supply chain issues affecting Apple's other products, so a price increase "remains inevitable."

Apple has apparently been closely observing how Samsung and Google respond to higher component costs. Both companies raised prices on their latest smartphones by about $100. Matching that increase would put the iPhone 18 Pro's starting price at $1,199, up about 9% from the current iPhone 17 Pro's $1,099 starting price.

Given the severity of the memory crunch, Gurman says that is a "fairly modest bump," suggesting Apple is absorbing some of the added costs itself. The company has already warned of pressure on gross margins this quarter, which is a sign it is not passing on all of its growing expenses to customers.

Apple still has good reason not to push too far. A $100 increase would keep the iPhone broadly in Samsung's pricing territory and avoid the "sticker shock" of the steeper hikes imposed on the Mac and iPad. Nevertheless, Gurman says that Apple has room to go higher, since the Mac and iPad price increases were far larger and the iPhone has a loyal customer base to draw on. The new Apple Upgrade subscription program could also soften the blow by allowing buyers to spread the higher cost across monthly payments rather than paying the full price upfront.

Article Link: Apple Preparing to Increase iPhone Prices

 

[abatabia]

I’m preparing to not upgrade any time soon.

 

[Sp1281]

Not because they need to or because their costs are up.

They are doing it because the others are doing it and people are ok with it

 

[svish]

Will be very surprised if it is going to be only a $100 increase. Expecting a $200 hike. Was thinking foldable would start at $1999 but now think $2199 is possible.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

My 16PM will soldier on

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

I’m upgrading to the iPhone Ultra. The dual apps and double size screen plus can still use it like regular iPhone is the deal maker for me.

 

[DaveTheRave]

I’m preparing to not upgrade any time soon.

LOL I am preparing to have my iPhone 13’s battery replaced. I could not care less about Apple UnInteligence and other upgrades that are meaningless to me. I will get a new iPhone when the current one breaks or is no longer capable of iOS security upgrades.

 

[MajorFubar]

Trillion dollar company just blindly folowing the trend of whacking a probably 10% increase in the price of their products because everyone else is doing the same. Tell me again how competition drives down prices for the consumer. No it doesn't. They all just watch to see how how much their competitors can get away with hiking their prices without causing a terminal sales slump, and then they do the same.

 

[MajorFubar]

LOL I am preparing to have my iPhone 13’s battery replaced. I could not care less about Apple UnInteligence and other upgrades that are meaningless to me. I will get a new iPhone when the current one breaks or is no longer capable of iOS security upgrades.

Same.

 

[k1121j]

LOL I am preparing to have my iPhone 13’s battery replaced. I could not care less about Apple UnInteligence and other upgrades that are meaningless to me. I will get a new iPhone when the current one breaks or is no longer capable of iOS security upgrades.

Good luck Apple will make this as time consuming and difficult as possible. If you have apple care it’s easier to break your screen and have them ship you a new phone.

 

[psingh01]

LOL I am preparing to have my iPhone 13’s battery replaced. I could not care less about Apple UnInteligence and other upgrades that are meaningless to me. I will get a new iPhone when the current one breaks or is no longer capable of iOS security upgrades.

I replaced the battery on my 12 a couple months ago. I was waiting for next year’s updates anyway but with a fresh battery it can last longer.

 

[Swetsenegger]

Not upgrading any time soon.

 

[striderz]

Its interestng but I hardly use my phone these days, so paying $1500+ is crazy for me at least. I tend to use iPad for messaging/email, and desktop for everything else. Rarely make calls - typically use VOIP or teams anyway. This is a big contrast to 10 years ago when the mobile seemed essential.

 

[smaffei]

Bought iPhone 17s for the whole crew (3 family members). And, they were told no phone upgrade for at least 3 years.

I believe consumers will hold off on buying new phones once the price hikes go into effect. After about 2 years of contracting sales, I believe the phone manufacturers will move more features down to the somewhat reasonably priced consumer devices to trigger sales growth again.

 

[Mr_Ed]

Its interestng but I hardly use my phone these days, so paying $1500+ is crazy for me at least. I tend to use iPad for messaging/email, and desktop for everything else. Rarely make calls - typically use VOIP or teams anyway. This is a big contrast to 10 years ago when the mobile seemed essential.

Same here. I tend to use the phone for “phone” things like calls, texts, calendar, some notifications, quick lookups, music in the car (less so lately due to Siri being a ****show when I ask for my tracks). I hate consuming videos on the phone display, which means battery is never an issue for me.

 

[ProTruckDriver]

Well, I'm not upgrading my wife's phone anytime soon at these prices.

 

[Big_D]

Not because they need to or because their costs are up.

They are doing it because the others are doing it and people are ok with it

9% seems very reasonable. I've seen laptop prices rising between 30% (Germany) and 70% (USA) from our main supplier. Server prices were even higher. We bought 6 servers (2 Xeons and 1TB RAM) last year, in Q1 this year we looked at 4 servers (1 Xeon and 512GB RAM), the 4 "baby" servers were 25% more expensive than the 6 big servers last year!

 

[jdawgnoonan]

Not because they need to or because their costs are up.

They are doing it because the others are doing it and people are ok with it

BS comment and you know it.

 

[jonnysods]

I got two 17s this year to replace a 13 Pro and a 15 Pro, no regrets, and I had a feeling waiting for the 18 would be a bit more money than I'd be willing to part with for a cell phone.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Not because they need to or because their costs are up.

Where are you getting your information that Apple's costs are not up?

 

[Big_D]

Well, I'm not upgrading my wife's phone anytime soon at these prices.

I'll be studying the launch with care, my 16 Pro is smashed (fell from my hand getting out of the car). If the increases are high, I'll get a 17 Pro, before those prices go up, but if the price increases are reasonable (and compared to other purchases we've had to make at work this year, they are very reasonable), depending on the specs. If they do a Google and reduce the amount of RAM and up the price, I will probably go with the 17 Pro...

 

[cwwilson]

Not because they need to or because their costs are up.

They are doing it because the others are doing it and people are ok with it

See, the thing I've come to realize in life is that people will always welcome price increases. The companies know this, so prices always go up, never down. It doesn't matter how many complaints are issued online or threats are made the line always goes up.

Why does this happen? It's because the vocal minority has no power when the general public doesn't care or is not informed what is going on. Look at the prices on food, cars, housing, entertainment nobody cares how much it costs they keep on buying. Companies are continuing to have record profits year after year and it's not slowing down.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Will be very surprised if it is going to be only a $100 increase. Expecting a $200 hike. Was thinking foldable would start at $1999 but now think $2199 is possible.

I would expect the higher capacity iPhones will increase more than $100 as the higher density chips have increased more than the $100 will cover.

 

[Delivered]

Bought iPhone 17s for the whole crew (3 family members). And, they were told no phone upgrade for at least 3 years.

I believe consumers will hold off on buying new phones once the price hikes go into effect. After about 2 years of contracting sales, I believe the phone manufacturers will move more features down to the somewhat reasonably priced consumer devices to trigger sales growth again.

How dare you try to be reasonable! Now I have to balance your reasonable take with some Doom and gloom. Anyway it won’t matter because by that point we won’t need phones because we will all be replaced by AI according to the experts. Even among your family they’re also going to replace you with AI. Humans won’t matter anymore it will just be AI ruling over the remnants of the left over earth. 😆🤣😂.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Good luck Apple will make this as time consuming and difficult as possible. If you have apple care it’s easier to break your screen and have them ship you a new phone.

Why is it difficult getting the battery replaced? With my daughter, we took her iPhone 13 Pro to Apple Store, had lunch at Cheesecake Factory, and when we were done, went back to Apple Store (all in the same mall) and her phone was ready. It couldn't have been easier or more convenient. For $90, it was the smartest decision over spending $1000 for a new phone.