iPhone 18 Pro Could Cost Up to $300 More This Fall, Analyst Says

The next-generation iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max could become Apple's most expensive iPhones yet. GF Securities analyst Jeff Pu predicts the devices will cost $250–$300 more than their iPhone 17 Pro counterparts when they launch this fall, pushing the iPhone 18 Pro's starting price to as much as $1,399 and the iPhone 18 Pro Max's to as much as $1,499.



Pu attributes the increase to higher prices for 2-nanometer silicon, along with soaring memory and storage costs. Apple has warned that unprecedented demand for memory is driving component prices higher, with CEO Tim Cook recently describing the supply crunch as a "hundred-year flood". The company has already raised prices across Macs, iPads, and several other products, but the iPhone lineup has so far avoided similar increases.


Pu said significantly higher prices could create "demand uncertainty," prompting him to downgrade Apple shares from Buy to Hold. He also cited Apple's recent stock outperformance, saying the company's valuation now appears full with limited upside. The downgrade marks a shift from his May outlook, when he believed Apple could price the new Pro models aggressively despite rising memory prices.

Earlier component cost projections suggested the iPhone 18 Pro Max's bill of materials alone could climb nearly $300, supporting the case for a sizable retail price increase.

Despite the pricing concerns, Pu remains optimistic about Apple's first foldable iPhone, which is expected to debut alongside the new Pro models in September and is widely expected by analysts to cost more than $2,000. However, he cautioned that the mainstream iPhone 18 Pro models may not offer enough compelling hardware upgrades to offset significantly higher prices. The standard iPhone 18, iPhone Air 2, and iPhone 18e are expected to arrive in spring 2027.