Apple is reportedly preparing iPhone price hikes ahead of fall launch

Apple is reportedly preparing iPhone price hikes ahead of the expected iPhone 18 reveal at its September event, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. After raising MacBook, iPad, and Mac Studio prices earlier this summer, the iPhone was the major holdout—and Gurman says increases of $100 or more now look likely as manufacturing costs climb.

The pattern fits a familiar Apple playbook: adjust everything else first, then move on the company's most important product line once a new generation is ready to launch. For shoppers who have tracked Nostalgia: Then & Now stories about tech pricing, this moment feels like déjà vu—only with higher stakes and bigger numbers on the receipt.

Key Takeaways

• Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports Apple is preparing iPhone price hikes, though the final amounts are still being decided.
• Apple already raised prices on the iPad Air ($150), MacBook Air ($200), and Mac Studio ($500) earlier this summer.
• A global memory shortage has pushed up smartphone and laptop manufacturing costs across the industry.
• Rivals Samsung and Google raised new flagship prices by roughly $100; a base iPhone 18 Pro could land near $1,199.
• Apple's Upgrade program may soften the blow for buyers who lease rather than purchase outright.

Why is Apple reportedly preparing iPhone price hikes now?

When Apple rolled out price increases across many product lines earlier this summer, one device category stood out by staying put: the iPhone. Gurman, writing for Bloomberg, suggests the company was waiting until the new iPhone 18 lineup is announced—almost certainly at Apple's annual September event—before adjusting those prices.

That timing matters. A September launch gives Apple a clean slate: new models, new marketing, and a natural moment to reset what customers expect to pay. Holding the line on iPhone pricing through the summer also avoided stacking bad news on top of the Mac and iPad hikes that already landed.

From a "then and now" perspective, staggered price moves are nothing new for Apple. What is different in 2026 is the scale of pressure behind them. The ongoing global memory shortage has significantly raised manufacturing costs, and the wider tech world has seen wave after wave of price increases on smartphones and laptops.

How much could the next iPhone cost?

Gurman reports Apple is still deciding how high iPhone prices will go. Even without a final number, an increase has seemed inevitable for months.

Apple's non-iPhone adjustments this year set a loud precedent. The iPad Air went up by $150. The MacBook Air rose by $200. The Mac Studio saw a $500 jump. Those figures show Apple is willing to move aggressively when component costs and supply constraints demand it.

Competitors offer a rough benchmark. Samsung and Google raised prices on their new Galaxy and Pixel smartphone lines by about $100 each—though foldable phones have typically seen much larger increases. If Apple stays in that general range, Gurman notes a base model iPhone 18 Pro could launch at around $1,199.

That would continue a long arc anyone comparing launch-day prices over the years will recognize: flagship phones that once felt impossibly premium now sit comfortably above four figures, and "Pro" branding increasingly means "Pro wallet."

Will higher prices push buyers away from the iPhone?

Apple may believe iPhone users are locked into the iOS ecosystem and that it can raise prices a significant amount without losing customers. That loyalty has helped Apple weather past price moves on other hardware lines without a mass exodus.

At the same time, Apple still has to compete with other companies' devices. Matching or staying near Samsung's and Google's roughly $100 bumps keeps the iPhone broadly aligned with rival flagship pricing, even if the absolute cost keeps climbing.

Gurman also points to Apple's Upgrade program as a pressure valve. The program works like a leasing model: users pay a recurring monthly fee for a device and can swap it for a newer model when one arrives. If outright purchase prices jump, customers who might have been priced out could opt into monthly payments instead of paying the full price upfront.

What happens next at Apple's September event?

All of the open questions—how much the iPhone 18 line will cost, whether a foldable iPhone Ultra appears, and how aggressively Apple leans on the Upgrade program—will likely be answered in just a few weeks at Apple's big September event.

Until then, the reporting from Gurman frames the situation plainly: iPhone price increases now seem inevitable. Apple tested the waters on Macs and iPads first; the phone that defines the company's revenue is next in line.

For longtime iPhone buyers, the story is less about a sudden shock and more about the latest chapter in a long-running trend. The device in your pocket keeps getting smarter, faster, and—if these reports hold—more expensive. The question is no longer whether Apple will raise prices, but by how much, and whether monthly upgrades become the default way America buys its most popular phone.