Just ahead of Apple’s “Surprise and Shine” event, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman shared some updates that should calm down anyone bracing for a brutal iPhone 18 Pro price hike. According to Gurman, Apple has been watching Samsung and Google closely, and it looks like the company is leaning toward a much smaller increase than the memory crisis alone would suggest.
Both Samsung and Google raised prices on their latest flagships by about $100 this year, thanks to the same DRAM and NAND shortage that has been squeezing every phone maker. Gurman says Apple has been tracking those moves, and matching them would put the iPhone 18 Pro at $1,199, up from the iPhone 17 Pro’s $1,099 starting price. That’s roughly a 9% bump.
For context, that’s a far gentler increase than what Mac and iPad buyers already went through earlier this year, when average price hikes across those product lines landed around 23%. If the iPhone 18 Pro really does land at $1,199, Apple would be eating a meaningful chunk of the added component cost itself rather than passing all of it on.
If Apple sticks to the same $100 gap between the two Pro models that we’ve seen in recent years, here’s roughly how the base 256GB pricing could shake out:
- iPhone 18 Pro: $1,199 (up from $1,099)
- iPhone 18 Pro Max: $1,299 (up from $1,199)
Higher storage tiers are a different story. Some reports suggest Apple could reserve steeper increases, in the $150 to $200 range, for the 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB configurations, where the memory cost pressure hits hardest.
Why Apple Might Hold Back
Apple already told investors it’s expecting pressure on gross margins this quarter, which is a pretty clear signal that it isn’t planning to pass every added dollar of cost onto customers. Gurman’s read is that a $100 increase keeps the iPhone roughly in line with where Samsung’s Galaxy S26 lineup already sits, without creating the kind of sticker shock that came with the Mac and iPad price jumps.
There’s also a simple competitive reason. If Apple pushed the iPhone 18 Pro up to $1,299 or $1,399, as some earlier analyst estimates suggested, it would suddenly look expensive next to the Galaxy S26 Ultra and Pixel 11 Pro XL. Staying closer to $1,199 keeps the comparison in Apple’s favor.
What’s Actually Changing on the Hardware Side
Price aside, Gurman’s posts also touched on what the upgrade itself looks like. The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are reportedly getting a smaller Dynamic Island that can juggle three tasks at once, up from the two it currently handles. That’s a small but genuinely useful change if you’re someone who lives in the Dynamic Island for calls, timers, and Live Activities all at the same time.
The camera system is said to be getting a bigger overhaul too, with new pro-grade hardware paired with software improvements rather than just a spec bump on paper. Add in an upgraded vapor chamber for cooling, and the pitch this year seems to be less about a single headline feature and more about tightening up the things Pro users actually notice day to day, like sustained performance under load and how much you can get done from the lock screen without opening an app.
The Memory Crunch Behind All of This
None of this is happening in a vacuum. DDR5 memory prices have reportedly climbed as much as 500% over the past year, largely because AI data centers are buying up DRAM at a pace the industry wasn’t built for. That’s the same pressure that pushed Apple to raise Mac and iPad prices earlier this year, and it’s not expected to ease up anytime soon, with some forecasts pointing to shortages lasting into 2029 or 2030.
Every major phone maker is dealing with the same input costs. Samsung and Google already made their moves. Apple’s decision on the iPhone 18 Pro is effectively the last domino to fall in this round of price increases.
We’ll know for sure once Apple’s event wraps, and we’ll share updates with the official pricing as soon as it’s announced.
