iPhone 18 Pro May Be Apple's Most Expensive Yet: AI Memory Shortage Could Add $300

The iPhone 18 Pro range launching this September could cost $200 to $300 more than current models, driven by a global shortage of memory chips that are also in high demand for AI data centers, according to analysts and research firm Counterpoint. Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal that price increases tied to memory costs were coming, calling the current squeeze unprecedented in over 40 years. The component cost for the top 1TB iPhone 18 Pro Max is estimated to rise by around $300 year-over-year, with DRAM and NAND flash prices surging 63% to 75%.

iPhone 18 Pro May Be Apple's Most Expensive Yet: AI Memory Shortage Could Add $300 The chips that run AI servers are the same ones the phone needs, and their soaring cost is being passed on to buyers The next iPhone is set to be one of the most expensive Apple has ever made, and the reason has little to do with the phone itself. Analysts expect the iPhone 18 Pro range to launch this September https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iphone-18-pro-september-2026-launch-upgrades-1809749 at a higher price than the current models. The estimates run from about $200 to as much as $300 more. The main cause is a global shortage of memory chips, the same parts that AI data centres are now buying in huge amounts. Apple has all but confirmed the rise. Chief executive Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal that price increases tied to memory costs were coming, and said he had never seen anything like the current squeeze in more than 40 years. The company has not set the final prices, but the direction is clear. Where the $300 Figure Comes From The clearest single figure comes from the research firm Counterpoint. It estimates that the cost of the parts inside the top 1TB iPhone 18 Pro Max will rise by around $300 compared with last year's model. That is a component cost rather than the exact price on the shelf, and Apple may pass on only part of it. The breakdown below shows how the bill has shifted. Memory sits at the centre of it. The phone uses two kinds of chips that have both surged in price, the working memory known as DRAM and the storage known as NAND flash. Reports put the year-on-year rise in those chips at between 63% and 75%, and the storage alone in the top model is said to cost more than $250. A jump of that size is hard for any maker to absorb quietly. A second factor adds to the total. The iPhone 18 Pro https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/apple-iphone-18-samsung-camera-tech-1779396 is expected to use a new, more advanced processor, and that chip costs more to make than the current one. Analysts call it the second-biggest reason for the higher cost, well behind memory but still real. Why Memory Got So Expensive The shortage is not a repeat of the supply problems seen during the pandemic. This time the cause is demand, and it comes from artificial intelligence. The huge data centres that train and run AI models need enormous amounts of memory, and they are willing to pay a premium for it. The scale of that pull is set out below. Only a few firms make these chips, primarily Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix. Faced with soaring orders from AI customers, they have moved production towards the high-value memory buyers want. That leaves less supply for everyday devices such as phones and laptops. When lots of buyers chase a limited supply, prices inevitably climb, and gadget makers are left competing for whatever memory remains after the AI firms have taken their share. The gap is not expected to close quickly. Much of the memory made this year has already been sold to big AI firms under long-term deals. So that supply cannot simply be switched back to consumer chips, which leaves companies like Apple with higher bills for some time yet. What It Means for Buyers For anyone planning to upgrade, the effect is a steeper price this autumn, mostly on the higher storage Pro models. Apple is expected to spread the rises across the range rather than add one flat amount. So, the cheapest models may change little, while the top ones climb the most. The wider point is that a phone's price is now tied to a market far beyond phones. As long as AI data centres keep absorbing the world's memory, the cost pressure on consumer electronics is likely to persist. The iPhone 18 Pro is simply the most visible example of a squeeze that touches the whole industry. © Copyright IBTimes 2025. All rights reserved.