My guess would be that Apple will raise the price of the 17-series when the 18-series is released, if for no other reason than to ensure people don't pass over buying the new 18 because the 17 is cheaper. The last thing Apple wants is sales of a lower cost 17 cutting into sales of a new series 18.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Preparing to Increase iPhone Prices
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
We shall see. I live 10 minutes away from an Apple Store and hope that if I make an appointment it will be quick visit in & out.
turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
SRQrws
macrumors 6502
I don't understand the negative comments directed toward Apple. In the U.S. market, almost everything has gone up dramatically in price over the last year. Gas is up over 40%. Look at the kwh cost on your electric bill. Since January 1, mine is up over 30%. Food prices - other than eggs, everything is up. New and used cars, all up. Have you gone to a restaurant lately? Hotel room prices are through the roof. Virtually all consumer goods are up. Internet services, all up. Stop blaming Apple and direct the blame where it belongs. I'll leave you to figure out where that is.
If people weren’t completely addicted to these devices and actually voted with their wallets, competition would be necessary. They understand what the drug dealers & uber understand: get people addicted and they’ll pay whatever you want.
raythompsontn
macrumors 65816
Here’s the thing for the man behind the curtain (see Wizard of OZ), I am not paying for information that is correct less 25% of the time. With much of the information backpedaled when the real facts are known. My money is better wasted on the lottery.
joshwithachance
macrumors 68030
RAM and SSD prices have SKYROCKETED in the past year, and companies have set profit margin targets to meet. If the cost of components and/or manufacturing rises, so does the end product. It's business 101.
The problem here isn’t that competition doesn’t work. There are, in fact, two separate - and very real - issues:
First, whether one wants to acknowledge it or not, RAMageddon has meant soaring costs for smart phone and computer makers. This is simply a fact. All of the major manufacturers have absorbed some of those costs and are passing along some to their customers. Apple waited the longest. But the market for chips, memory and storage is highly distorted right now. Anyone thinking the companies should absorb 100 percent of the costs because they’re already rich doesn’t know much about business.
Second, and completely outside of RAMageddon, the major electronics makers are rather entrenched. Every so often, a disrupter needs to come along and offer something better and/or less expensive to shock the entrenched players into action. Apple used to be one of those disrupters. Another will come along before too long. But current market distortions due to the AI crisis mean we’ll probably have to ride this out for a while before that will happen.
So, what to do? We have choices:
1) Continue buying the high-end products we want at higher prices. If this is our choice, fine. But then we should acknowledge that and stop complaining.
2) Continue buying what we need but perhaps from a much lower point in a given company’s product lineup. Think base iPhone 18 or 18e rather than Pro or Ultra.
3) Stop buying until the crisis passes or until our current devices stop working. Then see #2.
Last edited:
After receiving $2.2B in tariffs refund... classy.
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
Clix Pix
macrumors Penryn
Bought myself a beautiful Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro Max a few days ago -- I had wanted to get one the day last year that they were announced, as that color grabbed my attention instantly. Unfortunately various issues came up through the year and now suddenly here we are in August.... I realized that if I wanted that Cosmic Orange, I'd better hop-to and get over to the Apple Store before the new phones are launched. I've seen enough rumors to know that the Cosmic Orange will be history once the new iPhones arrive.
Something else which nudged me into action were comments of a likely price increase on the iPhone 18 models, plus the increase in trade-in value for the older iPhones. The stars were aligning. I had briefly thought about simply getting the battery replaced in my beloved iPhone 12 Pro but decided it really was time for a new iPhone. Traded in the iPhone 12 Pro, pulled out my Apple Card and soon was setting up the new Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 PM.
I'm glad I made this decision.
Something else which nudged me into action were comments of a likely price increase on the iPhone 18 models, plus the increase in trade-in value for the older iPhones. The stars were aligning. I had briefly thought about simply getting the battery replaced in my beloved iPhone 12 Pro but decided it really was time for a new iPhone. Traded in the iPhone 12 Pro, pulled out my Apple Card and soon was setting up the new Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 PM.
I'm glad I made this decision.
jz0309
macrumors P6
Yea, I have a feeling that one Apple will heavily advertise "low monthly price" and a lot of people will go for it.
How this turns out in the long run, we'll see probably plenty posts here at the 12/24 months marks...
turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
Yep.
As we've seen pointed out here by a few (notably @DEMinSoCAL), if used responsibly it's a fine option.
My thoughts and hopes are with all the folks who will not do that, get behind and get totally screwed by possibly signing up for more than they can/should.
jz0309
macrumors P6
Good choice! I got my orange 17PM on launch day, loving it. And now that I am using Halide for my camera app I'm even happier
Clix Pix
macrumors Penryn
The minute I laid eyes on that Cosmic Orange last year I knew I wanted it, had to have it.....alas, health issues and other stuff got in the way and so time passed all too quickly. I surprised myself by choosing the 17 Pro PM this time, as I've always used iPhone Pros rather than the larger model. This one just felt right in my hand at the store and still does here at home. Of course the Max was more expensive than the Pro would've been but that wasn't a concern. I do suspect, though, that if I were looking at iPhone 18 Pro models after a price increase, that the cost difference would really play a role in my choice!
In general I don't use my iPhone a lot for photography, still prefer my "real" cameras, but have experimented a few times with the new phone and so far I'm satisfied with the results. I like using the iPhone when out-and-about somewhere and see something I want to photograph but don't have my Sony with me.
I'll have to check out Halide....