Reports that Apple has trimmed orders for its iPhone 18 Pro have drawn attention to a less visible force shaping the phone market this year: the price of memory chips.
The AI effect on your phone
Technology companies are buying up advanced chip capacity and memory for artificial intelligence data centres. The resulting shortages and price rises are expected to shrink both the PC and smartphone markets this year.
Apple has already passed some of those costs on. In June it raised prices for iPads and MacBooks, saying it could no longer shield customers from rising memory and storage costs.
What the iPhone 18 Pro costs
The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 and the Pro Max at $1,299, each $100 more than the iPhone 17 Pro models they replace. Industry reports have said soaring memory costs and higher prices have dampened demand.
The foldable factor
Apple’s first folding phone, the iPhone Duo, starts at $1,999, making it the most expensive iPhone yet. The Duo and the 18 Pro share processor, memory and storage options, and memory is widely seen as the main supply constraint.
That gives Apple a reason to rebalance production. One commentator argues that cutting 18 Pro output frees components for the higher-margin Duo.
What it means if you are buying
- Storage costs more. Higher-capacity models carry steeper prices as memory gets more expensive.
- The upgrade is modest. It has been described as a modest step up from the 17 Pro, and some buyers are waiting.
- Cheaper models come later. Apple’s less expensive iPhone 18 models are due next year.
Further reading
- 2025–present global memory supply shortage — Wikipedia
- Dynamic random-access memory — Wikipedia
- iPhone 18 Pro — Wikipedia
- iPhone Duo — Wikipedia
Image: Apple iPhone by Pangkakit at Japanese Wikipedia, BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our Editorial Desk. How we work.
