On Wednesday, Apple introduced the iPhone 18 alongside the iPhone Duo, its inaugural foldable smartphone. However, alongside all the excitement surrounding these latest premium devices, a notable shift has occurred: Apple is pushing up the price of its current iPhone models by $100.
Effective immediately, shoppers will notice higher price tags for existing hardware on Apple’s online store, where starting costs now stand at $799 for the iPhone 16, $699 for the iPhone 17e, $899 for the iPhone 17, and $1,099 for the iPhone Air.
These adjustments are even more pronounced across certain international territories. In India, for instance, prices have reportedly climbed by roughly 20.5%. Additionally, the company has officially retired the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
This pivot marks an unusual step for Apple. Typically, the arrival of a next-generation iPhone leads to price cuts on previous models.
Even so, the price increases did not come as a total surprise. Rumors had been circulating that Apple might elevate prices alongside its newest releases. A primary catalyst is an ongoing global supply shortage of memory and storage components, driven by intense demand from AI developers and cloud computing providers rapidly expanding their data centers.
Speaking with The Wall Street Journal in June, former Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that surging hardware costs might ultimately force the company to adjust its pricing model, explaining that Apple could no longer fully absorb the growing expense of memory and storage chips.
Shortly after those statements were made, the firm increased prices across its Mac and iPad product lines.
Additional motives behind Apple’s decision to raise iPhone prices include keeping pace with price increases from major rivals like Samsung and Google. Furthermore, Apple likely expects that its refreshed Upgrade program—which allows buyers to spread out handset payments over manageable monthly fees—will cushion the burden of the increase, rendering it less jarring for buyers.
