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Apple Seeking 20% OLED Panel Price Cut for iPhone 18 Pro Max

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Apple is pushing OLED panel suppliers to lower their prices for the iPhone 18 Pro Max, as the cost of memory chips and other components rises, reports The Elec.

iPhone-18-Pro-and-Pro-Max-Feature.jpg

According to the Korea-based report, Apple has proposed paying around $70 for OLED panels, but it might end up paying even less. Industry estimates suggest that Samsung Display and LG Display will supply the panels for around $66.50 each. That would be a roughly 20 percent drop from the prices paid for iPhone 17 Pro Max OLED panels.

The report says that the price Apple has paid for iPhone OLED panels has fallen with each new generation. However, this year's reduction is unusually steep, especially considering that the iPhone 18 OLED panel is expected to require greater manufacturing complexity – Apple will be using Samsung Display's latest M16 OLED material set, which improves luminous efficiency, lifespan, and color performance.

Smartphone makers across the board are said to be trying to offset rising memory costs by reducing procurement expenses for other components, including display panels and camera modules.

According to market research firm UBI Research, Samsung Display is expected to supply 46 million OLED panels for Apple's iPhone 18 lineup this year, comprising 2 million for the standard iPhone 18 model, 18 million for the iPhone 18 Pro, and 26 million for the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Meanwhile, LG Display is forecast to supply 41 million panels, including 1 million for the standard model, 19 million for the 18 Pro, and 21 million for the 18 Pro Max.

Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 18 Pro models in September alongside its first foldable iPhone, followed by the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e in spring 2027. Analysts suggest the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max could start at $1,299 and $1,399, respectively. In other words, a $200 jump over their predecessors, with rising memory and storage costs largely to blame.


Article Link: Apple Seeking 20% OLED Panel Price Cut for iPhone 18 Pro Max
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/24/oled-panel-price-cut-iphone-18-pro-max/
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I wonder if Apple will lower quality control requirements to help offset cuts to component pricing. Less displays rejected off the production line means suppliers getting paid for more units produced.

People should be inspecting their new iPhones very closely in September. 😛
 
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Good to know. This will help Apple to have better profit margins. Anyway expecting the new devices to be costlier. Of course if display component prices too increase, price hikes will be even higher. So lower OLED panel price might be good for everyone.
 
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Well, Apple should've thought of this before. It's been pretty obvious where everything's headed for almost 3 years now. They shouldn't have treated memory as a commodity and should have made some kind of hedge, like they did with SoC. But then again, Apple only recently started implementing real AI, so I guess they missed this entirely. And their strategy of pressuring everyone with "We are Apple, we are the biggest so give us memory super cheap or else we don't buy it from you" kind of backfired.
 
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In other words: The manufacturing cost returned before the AI memory fiasco and Apple did a price hike for even MORE profit hiding behind the AI memory cost increase.

Classic.
 
thebellnd said:
I wonder if Apple will lower quality control requirements to help offset cuts to component pricing. Less displays rejected off the production line means suppliers getting paid for more units produced.

People should be inspecting their new iPhones very closely in September. 😛
Click to expand...
They already did. All Macbook Pros are manufactured with small dents and microscratches in the screen. Ordered over 50+ units ranging from M1 to M4.
 
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MarcoPohlo said:
(Apple) shouldn't have treated memory as a commodity and should have made some kind of hedge, like they did with SoC.
Click to expand...

Apple has hedged memory for over a decade. It's why they were able to hold the line on MSRP through 2024 and 2025 even as memory prices started their massive climb. But those hedges eventually expire and they have to sign new ones and the new contracts which went live this Summer were twice as expensive as the older ones, so MSRP had to go up.
 
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Zerlina said:
yeah i don't think that these "cost savings" are going to us the consumers
Click to expand...
It's funny how people here view this in such a binary fashion.

For example, I hear of people complaining how Amazon Prime has ads despite already paying for it. They expect an ad-support service to be completely free of charge, not realising that the revenue from ads may not be enough to completely offset the costs of running a video streaming service.

So a video streaming service could normally cost $14/month, and ads help to bring that down to $10 a month (for example). In this case, ads have helped to defray some of the costs involved, and it's not realistic to expect any further price reduction.

In the same vein, cost-cutting measures such as removing the charger from the box and negotiating for cheaper components can help to offset what might otherwise have been a price hike (meaning the customer can still save money even if the final price of the iPhone ends up increasing, not forgetting that iPhones are actually comparatively cheaper today as their prices haven't really risen despite inflation over the years).
 
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MacRumors said:


Apple is pushing OLED panel suppliers to lower their prices for the iPhone 18 Pro Max, as the cost of memory chips and other components rises, reports The Elec.

iPhone-18-Pro-and-Pro-Max-Feature.jpg

According to the Korea-based report, Apple has proposed paying around $70 for OLED panels, but it might end up paying even less. Industry estimates suggest that Samsung Display and LG Display will supply the panels for around $66.50 each. That would be a roughly 20 percent drop from the prices paid for iPhone 17 Pro Max OLED panels.

The report says that the price Apple has paid for iPhone OLED panels has fallen with each new generation. However, this year's reduction is unusually steep, especially considering that the iPhone 18 OLED panel is expected to require greater manufacturing complexity – Apple will be using Samsung Display's latest M16 OLED material set, which improves luminous efficiency, lifespan, and color performance.

Smartphone makers across the board are said to be trying to offset rising memory costs by reducing procurement expenses for other components, including display panels and camera modules.

According to market research firm UBI Research, Samsung Display is expected to supply 46 million OLED panels for Apple's iPhone 18 lineup this year, comprising 2 million for the standard iPhone 18 model, 18 million for the iPhone 18 Pro, and 26 million for the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Meanwhile, LG Display is forecast to supply 41 million panels, including 1 million for the standard model, 19 million for the 18 Pro, and 21 million for the 18 Pro Max.

Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 18 Pro models in September alongside its first foldable iPhone, followed by the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e in spring 2027. Analysts suggest the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max could start at $1,299 and $1,399, respectively. In other words, a $200 jump over their predecessors, with rising memory and storage costs largely to blame.


Article Link: Apple Seeking 20% OLED Panel Price Cut for iPhone 18 Pro Max
Click to expand...
Do you guys think it’s worth upgrading from my 16 pro to the 18 pro once the price drops in mid 2027, or should i just wait for the air 2?
 
Abazigal said:
It's funny how people here view this in such a binary fashion.

For example, I hear of people complaining how Amazon Prime has ads despite already paying for it. They expect an ad-support service to be completely free of charge, not realising that the revenue from ads may not be enough to completely offset the costs of running a video streaming service.

So a video streaming service could normally cost $14/month, and ads help to bring that down to $10 a month (for example). In this case, ads have helped to defray some of the costs involved, and it's not realistic to expect any further price reduction.

In the same vein, cost-cutting measures such as removing the charger from the box and negotiating for cheaper components can help to offset what might otherwise have been a price hike (meaning the customer can still save money even if the final price of the iPhone ends up increasing, not forgetting that iPhones are actually comparatively cheaper today as their prices haven't really risen despite inflation over the years).
Click to expand...
Not disagreeing just having a hard time believing you.

Interesting since TV used to be full supported by ads before streaming. I think its more of a capitalist issue they just can't make enough... or as much as they want
 
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Abazigal said:
It's funny how people here view this in such a binary fashion.

For example, I hear of people complaining how Amazon Prime has ads despite already paying for it. They expect an ad-support service to be completely free of charge, not realising that the revenue from ads may not be enough to completely offset the costs of running a video streaming service.

So a video streaming service could normally cost $14/month, and ads help to bring that down to $10 a month (for example). In this case, ads have helped to defray some of the costs involved, and it's not realistic to expect any further price reduction.
Click to expand...

The real annoying thing (for me) is how much revenue ads bring in, which then requires the services to raise the price of the ad-free tiers to make up the revenue they are losing by not showing ads.


k1121j said:
I'm no expert but don't the streaming services like Netflix make more off an add supported account then a paid for ad free one?
Click to expand...

Yes, which is why the ad-free tiers keep seeing price increases.
 
k1121j said:
Not disagreeing just having a hard time believing you.

Interesting since TV used to be full supported by ads before streaming. Im no expert but don't the streaming services like Netflix make more off an add supported account then a paid for ad free one?
Click to expand...
In the end, just don't buy it if the value isn't there. That will definitely make Apple and everyone else think twice.

For NFLX, it depends on how much a user watches. NFLX isn't making more off a casual ad watcher versus a casual paid sub. A casual sub versus a rabid ad watcher? Sure, but who cares? People pay for what they want and the company provides the option.

What most of you miss in capitalism is that the pricing mechanism is very subtle, but highly effective. Competition and consumer demand drive everything without you even realizing it. There is no other system so efficient at producing the highest quality product for the lowest price.

You may not like the price, but that is where your right to not pay comes in. Other systems don't give you these options.
 
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