Apple is reportedly preparing to hold the line on the base iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, even as memory costs climb. The catch, of course, is that any savings at the entry level could be clawed back on higher-storage versions – a classic Apple move, and a familiar one in a market where component inflation is making plenty of phone makers uncomfortable.
According to a fresh report cited by 9to5Mac, analyst Jeff Pu expects Apple to keep the starting prices of both models unchanged or raise them only slightly. That would put the iPhone 18 Pro at $1099 and the iPhone 18 Pro Max at $1199, if the company sticks to the current pricing pattern.
iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max starting prices
The reported strategy matters because the memory crunch is already pushing rivals to act. Chinese smartphone makers have begun raising prices, which gives Apple a handy bit of cover if it decides to nudge costs higher later in the lineup rather than at the front door. That’s also where Apple usually protects its margins: the base model looks disciplined, then the upgraded storage tiers do the heavy lifting.
- iPhone 18 Pro: $1099
- iPhone 18 Pro Max: $1199
- Possible tactic: keep launch prices steady, then offset costs with larger-memory versions
How Apple could absorb higher memory costs
This would not be a brand-new trick. Apple has long used storage upgrades as a quiet profit lever, especially when the sticker price of a new iPhone needs to look tame on launch day. If the report is right, the real question is not whether Apple can avoid a headline-grabbing price hike, but how sharply it chooses to spread the pain across higher-capacity configurations.
The more interesting part is what happens next: if Apple can keep the base prices intact despite rising costs, competitors will have even less room to charge premium prices without looking greedy. If it cannot, the entire premium-phone tier could get a little more expensive, one storage bump at a time.