Apple’s upcoming iPhone 18 Pro is set to maintain its predecessor’s base storage capacity of 256GB, according to recent industry reports. This decision comes despite a significant increase in production costs, primarily driven by escalating prices for memory components.
Historically, Apple has incrementally increased the base storage of its Pro models. The iPhone 16 Pro started with 128GB, which was doubled to 256GB in the iPhone 17 Pro. However, the iPhone 18 Pro is expected to retain the 256GB starting point, marking a departure from this trend.
The surge in production expenses is largely attributed to a global shortage of memory chips. This shortage has led to higher costs for RAM and storage components, as well as the A20 Pro chips that power the device. Consequently, industry analysts anticipate that Apple will implement price increases for the iPhone 18 Pro models to offset these elevated costs.
Projections suggest that the starting prices for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in the U.S. could see an increase of $200 to $300 compared to their predecessors. This adjustment would position the base models at approximately $1,399 and $1,499, respectively.
In June, Apple raised prices across its Mac and iPad lineups, as well as other products like the Apple TV, HomePod, and Vision Pro. These increases ranged from $30 for the HomePod mini to up to $1,300 for high-end Mac Studio configurations. The company cited the ongoing memory chip shortage and the resulting supply-demand imbalance as primary reasons for these adjustments.
Apple CEO Tim Cook described the situation as a “hundred-year flood” in memory pricing, emphasizing that the price hikes were “unavoidable” given the current market conditions.
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro models in September. Consumers should be prepared for higher price points, reflecting the increased production costs and the company’s strategy to maintain its profit margins amid challenging supply chain dynamics.
