Will Apple Raise iPhone Prices Due to Skyrocketing Memory Chip Prices?

[JPack]

They already raised the price of the mid tier and pro models by $100 last year. It is already baked into the price.

The Pro price hasn't been touched since 2017. It was just increased in September 2025.

The base model iPhone has been $799 since 2020. And the Pro Max since 2023.

Nothing has been "baked in" and Tim Cook literally said the memory and storage prices haven't hit Apple yet, but will do so after Q2'26.

 

[ignatius345]

Remember ....those who think Apple will raise the price...also you all said Apple will raise the prices when everybody else did 3-4 years ago and Apple still kept the 999 starting on pro iphones prices and on macs even lower the prices

True on the Mac side too. A base model of whatever entry level MacBook Air, or MacBook before that or iBook before that... has been ~$999 for ages now.

 

[macosxserverappreciator]

It's about a $40 cost increase per unit. They already raised prices this past year to more than account for that. There is no justification for further increases.

Yeah they bumped up because if tariffs, got a deal worked out/an exception. They were already ahead of the curve.

 

[oldMacGenius]

It sure does feel like 1988 again.

 

[Farquar]

Yeah they bumped up because if tariffs, got a deal worked out/an exception. They were already ahead of the curve.

The tariffs were estimated to cost Apple $1 billion per quarter, and ended up falling far short. The price increase alone was worth almost 3x that. Whoops.

 

[bushman4]

Hopefully NOT!
But realistically they probably will .
Not enough chips to go around

 

[JPack]

Yeah they bumped up because if tariffs, got a deal worked out/an exception. They were already ahead of the curve.

How could the increase be related to tariff-anything? The Pro Max increase was in 2023.

 

[1BadManVan]

I just hope they dont start cheaping out on other components in the phone to offset the cost. Cheaper batteries, slower storage, lower quality display etc..

Im wanting to upgrade to the 18 pro since im still on the 14 but I'll definitely hold off to make sure there isn't something obvious that they cut corners on with the phone

 

[DocMultimedia]

Nobody wants all this AI garbage and yet the entire world has to suffer for it. Absolutely insane.

Not all AI is garbage. If you use it wisely it's exceptionally useful. Speeding up programming by being able to write complex subroutines in multiple languages, keeping track of nutrition, creating storyboards for team projects, etc. It just requires knowledge of how to effectivity integrate it in to your workflow.

Is it used for lots of other garbage, yes. Some people don't seem to want to do anything productive in the modern world.

Is the world suffering for it? I'd say things like war rank higher.

 

[Biro]

Apple should bring chip, RAM and storage fabrication in house. Maybe buy what’s left of Intel. Make it all in the U.S. and have real control over quality and pricing.

 

[jz0309]

Apple should bring chip, RAM and storage fabrication in house. Maybe buy what’s left of Intel. Make it all in the U.S. and have real control over quality and pricing.

"Chip" fabs do not produce RAM or NAND, those run on different fab processes. Intel doesn't manufacture RAM and don't know if they still have a NAND fab (used to be Shanghai),
Plus, Intels market cap is around $250b now, Apple has no experience u running fabs and Intel needs a lot more customers beyond Apple to get fabs full and keep them full.
Intel has multiple fabs outside the US, namely Ireland, Israel to name a few...

 

[1BadManVan]

Not all AI is garbage. If you use it wisely it's exceptionally useful. Speeding up programming by being able to write complex subroutines in multiple languages, keeping track of nutrition, creating storyboards for team projects, etc. It just requires knowledge of how to effectivity integrate it in to your workflow.

Is it used for lots of other garbage, yes. Some people don't seem to want to do anything productive in the modern world.

Is the world suffering for it? I'd say things like war rank higher.

Cost of living is right up there as a concern for 99% of people living in this world. To side step that real concern by basically saying well at least we aren't in a war is ridiculous

This AI is going to have a broad affect on costs of many things, not just smart phones and pc's. So even though the vast majority of people dont actually use AI or hardly use it, get to suffer the effects so more billionaires can get rich is getting pretty insane.

 

[extrachrispy]

Nobody wants all this AI garbage and yet the entire world has to suffer for it. Absolutely insane.

I want it. Copilot Research agent is utterly amazing, once you have narrowed its focus with a conversation. I had a very specific question about secondary cancer risks in cancer survivors who had durable remission from one specific type of treatment, and the research agent essentially produced a literature review article for me, complete with citations, in about an hour. It would have taken me weeks to do the same thing in my spare time.

In my professional life, using agents in my IDE as coding assistants has proven to be an enormous speedup. Yes, they guess wrong sometimes, and yes, they come up with crap solutions sometimes, but they effectively serve as a very fast junior partner in pair programming, and they can digest large amounts of code and documentation much, much faster than any human can.

 

[Nyx1]

Tired to say this global supply chain is not working anymore even make chipset with fabless is not good enough the only way make your own fabs

 

[pdaholic]

Yaaay, I look forward to spending extra for future hardware just so I can have more ai videos of cat parents saving their kittens by throwing them out of burning airplanes.

 

[sleep/to/dream]

I just hope they dont start cheaping out on other components in the phone to offset the cost. Cheaper batteries, slower storage, lower quality display etc..

Im wanting to upgrade to the 18 pro since im still on the 14 but I'll definitely hold off to make sure there isn't something obvious that they cut corners on with the phone

100%, I’d rather pay more and have better quality

The 11 Pro felt like a piece of art, the Air comes close but I wish the Pro still felt that premium

 

[thebarrkbyte]

So when this AI bubble bursts, what happens to all the machines they bought? Do they just sell them at a loss? And who buys them?

 

[carrrrrlos]

The prices will stay the same and Apple will be smug about it. Cutting costs in the name of the planet, right? Less, packaging, no charger, headphones, stickers.

 

[SFjohn]

100%, I’d rather pay more and have better quality

The 11 Pro felt like a piece of art, the Air comes close but I wish the Pro still felt that premium

I agree but to me the 17 Pro Max I bought feels just as premium as the 11 Pro… 🤷

 

[mngdew]

With Micron out of consumer memory chip business, Hynix and Samsung are only viable memory manufacturers.
TSMC does not make either DRAM or NAND.

 

[code-m]

Apple's price increases for memory or storage has always been ridiculous. I don't expect them to stop now.

Even if Apple does raise prices, is there anything anyone can do other than delay an upgrade or not buy it at all.

Is it the end of the world; no, no why fret about menial things that are out of the consumers control.

Two choices, buy now or wait until later.

 

[code-m]

They won’t raise the price but they’ll shrink the phone.

Get ready for the iPhone nano!

Cost savings can be obtained on other components that are not effected by AI like camera sensors, screen tech, etc.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

They won’t raise the price but they’ll shrink the phone.

Get ready for the iPhone nano!

 

[Biro]

"Chip" fabs do not produce RAM or NAND, those run on different fab processes. Intel doesn't manufacture RAM and don't know if they still have a NAND fab (used to be Shanghai),
Plus, Intels market cap is around $250b now, Apple has no experience u running fabs and Intel needs a lot more customers beyond Apple to get fabs full and keep them full.
Intel has multiple fabs outside the US, namely Ireland, Israel to name a few...

I’m aware of all that. Apple should still bring it all in-house.

 

[Gherkin]

I think they’ll hold prices at $999 for the base Pro, but once the 20th anniversary edition comes out they’ll raise it at that time (like with the iPhone X). Then going forward that will be the new Pro base price.