If people don't have money to upgrade every year can't they upgrade less often than every year? Or could they not buy a used device?
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 to Keep iPhone 18 Starting Price Steady Despite Rising Memory Costs
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Wait a second...doesn't all Apple Silicon have its memory on the chip itself?! Then how in the heck is the market price of DRAM memory even an issue for iPhones/iPad/Macs?
I suspect Apple charges mainly based on what the market can bear, and only somewhat on what it costs to make the gadgets
macduke
macrumors G5
Is there any way we can get Intel to start manufacturing memory here in the US? Seems like a strategic advantage that is of national importance. As a shareholder in Intel (the federal government owns 10%) I demand they look into this and provide a plan of action.
And they also know that when the AI bubble bursts, consumers either have short memories or will be forced to buy more memory from them because they don't have a choice. There are just a few countries in the world that produce memory, which seems like a problem.
gigapocket1
macrumors 68030
Apple had all the component prices built in…They knew where this ram trend was heading and priced things accordingly from the start. This ram shortage wasn’t a shock to them. Probably why the ditched titanium in the 17s…..
HouseLannister
macrumors 68040
And? TSMC isn’t building their own RAM for these chips. Same RAM, different wrapper. Doesn’t matter if it goes in an iPhone, a PC, a graphics card, a Switch 2, or a Prius. All come from the same suppliers and it is a seller’s market right now.
This. Or they bought a s*load of components they cannot sell as sales have been slumping. The amount of M2 that were in stock was HUGE.
Last edited:
TVreporter
macrumors 68030
Tr55
macrumors regular
iPhone prices are quite high, the phone is definitely at the high end of the market across the whole range. It’s somewhat mitigated by Apples practice of selling old models cheaper, often much cheaper.
It’s remarkable how much cheaper the iPhone’s mainstream competition is and how Apple is able to maintain its prices due to its whole ecosystem.
It’s remarkable how much cheaper the iPhone’s mainstream competition is and how Apple is able to maintain its prices due to its whole ecosystem.
Last edited:
This is it right there. At some point this will all come back down to earth. And you better had maintained your relationships.
🙂Their sales would suggest it's priced well.
We may never know for sure how much Apple pays for any part or item within an iPhone. They maybe paying less or more than we think. Either way, they can absorb some price increases, and they can offset by removing "earbuds" or a power brick. And if they can't take the hit. They can make it up in other areas.
Oblivious.Robot
macrumors 6502a
Dark_Omen
macrumors 6502a
Galaxy S25 Ultra - $1,200
Galaxy S25+ $1,000
Galaxy S25 $800
Galaxy S25 Edge $1,100
Pixel Prices are similar.
Not even sure what you're talking about.
For what Apple charges for memory to begin with... Well, maybe the stuff Apple pays for (apparently it is crapped out by unicorns fed by rainbow dust, and gathered by fairies by the light of the new moon, and woven into magical, hyper-expensive upgrades by angels) isn't affected by pedestrian artificial price increases by commonplace slave-labor Chinese suppliers...
Apple has a stellar record of collecting obscenely high prices for their products and services. They've achieved maximum influence and control over the Apple devotees and the lions share of their customers.
Few other companies can continue to maintain profits like the Cupertino company does. As a result it’s quite obvious how they became the top company and financial juggernaut they are. Apple is the master at maximizing their sales and marketing efforts.
Few other companies can continue to maintain profits like the Cupertino company does. As a result it’s quite obvious how they became the top company and financial juggernaut they are. Apple is the master at maximizing their sales and marketing efforts.
The logistics of doing so are incredibly complex, but not impossible. Unfortunately, the US has placed a VERY low importance and incentive on the type of skill and labor needed for such mass production and there would be a HUGE deficit of people to man such factories. Even a focused, heavily endorsed ramp-up to this type of skill and labor would take years.
Yes, I endorse such an effort, no matter the timeline and cost, because the benefits of having your electronics built sand-to-software in-house is hard to measure in terms of stability, supply, and security. As you yourself consider a career change or raise your children, it is worth asking whether you would encourage this change of mindset.
Populus
macrumors 604
I really hope you’re right and prices for the upcoming M5 Mac mini and its memory & storage upgrades don’t get increased.
I mean....I would be if I could afford it. SSD, GPU, and now even CPU prices are crazy as well.
You're misunderstanding my point...the RAM in Apple silicon is integrated into the CPU itself as unified memory architecture. When they stamp out a M5 chip, the RAM is already inside so discrete memory costs are not an issue for Apple products.