Apple is reportedly preparing iPhone price hikes (because of course they are) - Mashable
An iPhone price hike has seemed inevitable for months. As Gurman points out, Apple raised the price of its non-smartphone products by varying amounts. Unfortunately, iPhone price increases now seem inevitable.
When Apple announced price hikes across many of its product lines earlier this summer, there was one product that was noticeably absent: the iPhone.
But, just like it did with the MacBook and iPad, it appears that Apple will soon be raising prices on the iPhone, too. It looks like the tech giant was just waiting to adjust prices until the new iPhone 18 lineup is announced, which will almost certainly happen at the company's annual September event.
According to Bloomberg Apple expert Mark Gurman, the source of virtually all news about unreleased Apple products, the company is currently preparing for iPhone price hikes. Just how high will prices go? That's what Apple is still deciding, Gurman reports.
An iPhone price hike has seemed inevitable for months. The ongoing global memory shortage has significantly raised manufacturing costs, and the tech world has seen waves of price increases on smartphones and laptops.
As Gurman points out, Apple raised the price of its non-smartphone products by varying amounts. The iPad Air went up by $150. The MacBook Air price was raised by $200. The Mac Studio saw a whopping $500 price increase. Apple may feel that iPhone users are locked into the iOS ecosystem and that it can raise prices a significant amount without losing customers.
However, at the same time, Apple does have to compete with other companies' devices. Samsung and Google only raised the prices of their new Galaxy and Pixel line of smartphones by about $100 each (foldable phones have typically seen much larger price increases). Apple may feel like they need to either match that or stay within that general price range. That would see a base model iPhone 18 Pro priced at around $1,199 at launch.
In addition, Gurman says that Apple may feel like it could compete with higher price hikes than its competitors thanks to the company's new Upgrade program. Apple Upgrade is essentially a leasing model in which Apple users can pay a recurring monthly fee for a device and then easily swap the device in for an upgrade when a new model comes out. If the iPhone gets more expensive, those users who may have previously been priced out after a price hike can instead just opt to lease the device in the Apple Upgrade program.
All of our questions about the foldable iPhone Ultra and price increases will likely be answered in just a few weeks at Apple's big September event.
Unfortunately, iPhone price increases now seem inevitable.