Reports suggest the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max could become Apple's most expensive smartphones yet. Advanced hardware upgrades, increased memory, and rising manufacturing costs are expected to play a key role in potential pricing changes. Apple reportedly earned a gross margin of about 47% on the iPhone 17 Pro.
Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are expected to launch in September, and there is a growing consensus among analysts that they will cost noticeably more than the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max did at launch.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, Cook said price increases are ‘unfortunately unavoidable’. He explained that Apple has tried to shield customers from rising component costs for as long as possible, but that “the situation has become unsustainable.”
Cook described the scale of the price fluctuation in striking terms: “This is a hundred-year flood. I’ve never seen anything like it in any area in over 40 years.” Memory and storage chip costs rose 93-98% sequentially in the March quarter alone, according to industry tracker TrendForce, with a further 58-63% sequential rise expected in the June quarter.
The driver is surging global demand for DRAM and NAND flash memory, largely from AI and data center companies that are buying up supply faster than manufacturers like Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron can produce it.
Cook did not specify which products or when prices would change, but Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman believes an announcement is close. “Regarding Apple price hikes, have to imagine these are fairly imminent,” Gurman posted on X. It suggests Apple could tie the increase to its annual Back to School promotion rather than waiting for the iPhone 18 launch in the fall. “Either way, this is happening soon. Not a fall thing,” he added.
Research firm TechInsights estimates Apple would need to add roughly $270 to the iPhone 18 Pro’s price to protect its margins, pushing it to around $1,299 from the iPhone 17 Pro’s $1,099.
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Assuming the reported information is accurate, customers should expect substantial hardware enhancements, performance boosts, and other high-end features from the iPhone 18 Pro line. These changes, however, may result in a price increase, which is a significant issue for future buyers to consider.
The UAE is one of Apple's largest markets for its premium smartphones, as customers there tend to embrace new iPhone models quickly. Should the higher price for the iPhone 18 Pro prove true, customers in the UAE might have to pay quite a bit more for their upgrades, especially those who require higher storage capacities. At the same time, strong interest in flagship devices, favorable installation options for carriers, and trade-ins could offset it to some extent.