Market expects iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max starting prices to rise $100 to $1,199 and $1,299. The Wall Street Journal’s component-cost tally indicated keeping current gross margins would have pushed Pro to about $1,299; a $100 hike implies Apple is offsetting storage-cost pressure through procurement leverage, product-mix shifts and partial margin concessions.
By contrast, Google’s Pixel 11 series broadly rose $100 while expanding base storage or trimming RAM, and Samsung’s S26 shows a nominal $100 increase but doubled base storage so same-capacity prices are only roughly $40 higher.
With AI demand crowding storage capacity, OEMs are weighing price increases, spec cuts or margin compression. A modest Apple price rise would better protect upgrade demand, but gross margin will be a key metric to watch in upcoming results.
