You can usually set your watch to Apple’s iPhone release schedule, so it’s practically a given that we’ll see the iPhone 18 in some form or another in September. Unfortunately, the upcoming smartphone is also almost guaranteed to land at a higher price than its predecessor.
Apple raised its hardware prices almost across the board in June, in response to the climbing cost of computer memory and flash storage. Blame the industry’s ongoing obsession with artificial intelligence on that one. iPads, MacBooks, HomePods and the Vision Pro headset all saw big increases – some by thousands – but the iPhone range was spared.
Why? Maybe Apple had already sourced the RAM chips and flash storage for the iPhone 17 generation, protecting it from rising component costs. The more likely explanation is that iPhone sales usually taper off the closer it gets to a new release, and hiking the price for a couple of months would only speed that up. Better to swallow any short-term losses and focus on turning a profit with the next generation.
It means that at the time of writing, you could still buy a brand new iPhone 17 Pro directly from Apple US for $1099 or £1099 from Apple UK; the iPhone 17 Pro Max costs $1199/£1199 respectively. Based on how much Apple increased prices everywhere else, we’re betting their iPhone 18 equivalents will cost at least $100/£100 more; carrier contracts and network deals will almost certainly cost more as a result.
Things could be even worse for the iPhone 18, which isn’t rumoured to launch until Spring 2027. While the current iPhone 17 costs $799 or £799, if RAM and SSD prices continue to climb between now and then the iPhone 18 may be priced at $949/£949.
Beat September’s price hikes by buying now
What’s this? Stuff recommending that you don’t buy the newest and shiniest gadgets? Pigs really can fly, etc. But sadly the tech world is in an AI-accelerated spiral right now and not everyone can afford the resulting price hikes. The good news is Apple’s “marginal gains” approach means you’re unlikely to miss out on much if you skip the iPhone 18 generation in favour of its predecessor.
So far the rumours all point to the new models getting a slightly faster processor, marginally better battery life, some slightly improved cameras and the latest version of iOS – hardly jaw-dropping stuff. If we get any visual tweaks, they’ll be subtle ones. If there were whispers of more exciting upgrades I might say otherwise, but it’s harder to justify paying more for an iterative annual upgrade.
The iPhone 17 will get the latest iOS update right away, and has multiple years of software support left. It has enough battery to last all day, and feels super speedy thanks to Apple’s lightning-fast silicon. The base model is still a corker of a phone and the Pro pair are excellent flagship devices; if you’re all-in on Apple’s ecosystem you really can’t go wrong.
Even better, because these handsets have been around for a while now, you can often find discounts and price drops if you shop around at third-party retailers, or wait for a sale event like Black Friday.
Anyone rocking an older iPhone that was thinking about upgrading in September should really cancel those plans, save a decent chunk of change, and stick with this generation instead.
