Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

WSJ: Apple Weighing Price Hikes for iPhone 17 Lineup Without Blaming Tariffs

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
67,686
38,136


Apple is considering raising prices for its upcoming iPhone 17 models set to release this fall, according to people familiar with the matter cited by The Wall Street Journal.

iPhone-17-Pro-Blue-Feature-Tighter-Crop.jpg

The company reportedly aims to pair the potential price hikes with new features and design changes to justify the increased cost to consumers, rather than attributing them to U.S. tariffs on goods from China.

The U.S. and China recently agreed to suspend most tariffs imposed during their trade dispute, but a 20% tariff implemented by President Trump on Chinese goods remains in place and covers smartphones.

The WSJ report notes that Apple is particularly concerned about avoiding any appearance that price increases are directly related to tariffs. From the report:
The people familiar with the supply chain said Apple would have trouble making up for China tariff costs solely by seeking further savings from its suppliers, meaning a hit to its profit margin was likely unless it could raise prices.

At the same time, company executives are wary of blaming increases on tariffs. When a news report in April said Amazon might show the impact of tariffs to its shoppers, the White House called it a hostile act and Amazon quickly said the idea "was never approved and is not going to happen."

These circumstances have led Apple to look at what supply-chain insiders described as the least-bad choice: raising prices on the new iPhones to preserve profit and finding reasons other than tariffs to explain the move. It couldn't be determined what new features Apple may offer to help justify price increases.
Click to expand...

Amid growing pressure over U.S.-China trade tensions, Apple has built up inventory and shifted manufacturing for the U.S. market to India. Apple CEO Tim Cook stated earlier this month that a majority of iPhones shipped to the U.S. in the April-June quarter would come from India.

However, Chinese factories will continue to handle most production for Apple's high-end Pro and Pro Max models, as India's infrastructure and technical capabilities aren't yet sufficient to support mass production at China's scale.

The upcoming iPhone lineup, expected to be called iPhone 17, is expected to include an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air, which replaces the Plus model in Apple's lineup. Current iPhone models range from the base iPhone 16 starting at $799 to the iPhone 16 Pro Max at $1,199.

Article Link: WSJ: Apple Weighing Price Hikes for iPhone 17 Lineup Without Blaming Tariffs
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/05/12/apple-considering-price-increases-iphone-17/
Last edited:
  • Angry
Reactions: chikorita157
The tariffs are just bad for Apple's business. Apple's prices are at the max that a lot of people can or will afford, so increasing them will hurt sales. There is no good, Apple's profits will take a hit. Either from lower sales or from paying tariffs.

I think Apple can avoid price increases for now as the dollar took a hit and Apple didn't lower prices overseas, so they get more Dollars for their Euros and Pounds.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: hauld yer wheesht, JCrz, Oblivious.Robot and 19 others
Honestly, raising prices for the iPhone 17 sounds risk. People are already stretched thin with inflation, and iPhones aren’t cheap. If the upgrades aren’t groundbreaking, customers might just stick with their current phones longer or buy older models.
Meanwhile, other brands are offering serious competition at lower prices. If Apple keeps pushing up costs they might lose some ground especially in markets where budget matters more.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: secondsky, decypher44, Mother Nature and 18 others
First it was Covid that companies blamed for price increases and now tarriffs. I just don’t buy it. After Covid was over prices never really came back down. US/China already agreed to significantly reduce tariff's last night. So, enough of the excuses to raise prices.

Consumers need to push back on this stuff. Stop buying and prices go down. Accept higher prices and they stay and then go up again. Consumers own the market, not businesses.
 
  • Like
  • Love
  • Disagree
Reactions: Kram Sacul, PaladinGuy, jib2 and 20 others
Read the room Apple. I'm in Europe, their phones are really overpriced here. I'm ready to jump ship if they get more expensive.
Macs on the other hand are great value, they are unmatched considering what they offer.
Phones? It's really the software now... Android cameras in many cases surpassed Apple, Snapdragon chips are neck and neck, software support detto. And the Ai tools are vastly superior. The iPhone has competition.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: whatgift, sfkeepay, Allroms and 16 others
Funny thing is, prices in China will almost certainly decrease due to competition from Huawei.
 
So it's already $2,149 for the 256GB 16 Pro Max in Australia, so I'm guessing the 256GB 17 Pro Max might be $2,400 in Australia?

For all the people saying "consumers need to push back and not buy so prices go down", good luck with that as the 256GB XS Max was the first model to crack the $2K mark at a retail of $2,049 back in 2018 in Australia.

It's funny when other countries complain about price rises when we've been getting bent over for years by Uncle Timmy and Co. But people will keep buying the new iPhones every year like they have been for the last 7 years & thank him for the privilege of being able to spend $2K on a smartphone with only 256GB of storage.

What a time to be alive🫠.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sfkeepay, gamerdude and insomniac86
I think we can guarantee a 2TB storage tier this time around. Aside from it generally feeling like it’s about time we got one, Apple’s highest margins (read: biggest markup) has traditionally been on their storage upgrades. There are many people who want the highest capacity device or will get it just to have the biggest one, and Apple will recoup alot of money just based on this alone.
Maybe they’ll even introduce a 4TB storage tier for an extra $200-300 on top of the price for the 2TB model, just because they can. And with that they will lead us straight into the era of the first $3000 iPhone.
 
I think what they will do is upping to base storage to 256GB for all models, but for the price of the 256GB version, not for free (just like they did with the Pro Max). So technically they can say they didn't raise the prices.
 
  • Like
Reactions: m4c1n705h
Apple wants to raise the ASP not the price. They’ll do this with more premium models, like a 2TB at $100-200 more than the 1TB. Eliminating a low storage pro tier without raising or lowering the prices of the other tiers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 01cowherd and kiranmk2
MacRumors said:


Apple is considering raising prices for its upcoming iPhone 17 models set to release this fall, according to people familiar with the matter cited by The Wall Street Journal.

iPhone-17-Pro-Blue-Feature-Tighter-Crop.jpg

The company reportedly aims to pair the potential price hikes with new features and design changes to justify the increased cost to consumers, rather than attributing them to U.S. tariffs on goods from China.

The U.S. and China recently agreed to suspend most tariffs imposed during their trade dispute, but a 20% tariff implemented by President Trump on Chinese goods remains in place and covers smartphones.

The WSJ report notes that Apple is particularly concerned about avoiding any appearance that price increases are directly related to tariffs. From the report:


Amid growing pressure over U.S.-China trade tensions, Apple has built up inventory and shifted manufacturing for the U.S. market to India. Apple CEO Tim Cook stated earlier this month that a majority of iPhones shipped to the U.S. in the April-June quarter would come from India.

However, Chinese factories will continue to handle most production for Apple's high-end Pro and Pro Max models, as India's infrastructure and technical capabilities aren't yet sufficient to support mass production at China's scale.

The upcoming iPhone lineup, expected to be called iPhone 17, is expected to include an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air, which replaces the Plus model in Apple's lineup. Current iPhone models range from the base iPhone 16 starting at $799 to the iPhone 16 Pro Max at $1,199.

Article Link: WSJ: Apple Considering Price Increases for iPhone 17 Lineup
Click to expand...
If the base iPhone 17 gets a price hike, I hope it comes with 256GB instead of 128GB.
 
Rumoured many times before several headline prices have remained - $799 for iPhone, $999 for iPhone Pro. Other prices have gone up (dropping the $699 mini for a $899 Plus, dropping the 128GB Pro Max to bump up the base price).

This year Apple have taken the opportunity to bump up the price of the SE (16e) a lot and it wouldn't surprise me if the iPhone Air was positioned at a more premium level (e.g. starting with 256 GB storage for $999). I think Apple will want to do what they can to maintain the $799/$999 price points for the iPhone/Pro. As with the launch of the iPhone X, where I really believe that $999 was seen as a test price to see what people would pay, a $999 Air could be described as similar - if people buy it because of the new design, then great. If they don't, then next year the Air 2 will be "even better value" at $899...
 
  • Like
Reactions: jarman92
attohs said:
Apple wants to raise the ASP not the price. They’ll do this with more premium models, like a 2TB at $100-200 more than the 1TB. Eliminating a low storage pro tier without raising or lowering the prices of the other tiers.
Click to expand...
Yep - iPhone sales (in terms of numbers) peaked back in the iPhone 6/6S/7 days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back