The ongoing memory crunch hit Apple customers much later than most tech fans, but when the price hikes arrived, they hit hard. Apple increased prices across its iPad and Mac ranges by anywhere from $100 to an eye-watering $1,300 in the case of the M3 Ultra Mac Studio. There was only one consolation: iPhone prices didn’t increase at all.
That latter state of affairs is not going to last for long, we’re sad to report. At the start of this month we covered a report by Mark Gurman in which the Bloomberg leaker insisted there is “absolutely no doubt” that iPhone price hikes are coming. And in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman reiterates that prediction and adds further context.
Context matters, and in this case it offers some cause for hope. Yes, iPhones will shortly get more expensive. As Gurman puts it, “An increase [to iPhone prices] remains inevitable. The only question is how far Apple will go.” But clues from inside and outside the company suggest it may not go as far as pessimistic customers and pundits may have feared.
For one thing, Apple’s behavior will, to some extent, be influenced by two of its biggest smartphone rivals, Google and Samsung. Both of these put up the prices of their latest phones by around $100. For Apple to announce a similar hike when it launches the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max–putting their starting prices at approximately $1,199 and $1,299, respectively–would therefore seem perfectly reasonable. The unpopular actions of Google and Samsung provide cover for Apple to do the same, in a reversal of the headphone jack debacle.
So far, so convenient for Apple. But those price rises cut both way, because they also provide an anchor point for customer expectations. Putting up phones by $100 now seems reasonable. But to put them up by $200, say, is no longer an arbitrary number; it’s double what Google and Samsung did. Whatever Apple announces will be compared favorably or unfavorably to the actions of its rivals.
Gurman doesn’t claim to know Apple’s plans, but he senses that it’s veering towards relatively conservative price hikes. In its latest quarterly financial disclosures, he points out, the company warned of pressure on gross margins. That may be a clue that it doesn’t intend to pass on all of the cost increases to customers, instead choosing to absorb some of the pain itself.
The new iPhones will be announced next month. For all the latest news and rumors, bookmark our regularly updated iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra superguides.
