Apple has raised prices across its hardware lineup this year, including the iPhone 18 Pro starting at Rs 1,64,900. The company faces a memory crisis as AI firms buy chips in huge quantities. Chipmakers are now gaining the upper hand, forcing Apple to pay much more for its flash storage.
Apple has spent this year making almost everything it sells more expensive. The iPhone 18 Pro starts at Rs 1,64,900, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max costs Rs 1,79,900. Both are Rs 30,000 more expensive than their iPhone 17 Pro counterparts were at launch. The price hikes are not limited to the latest launches.
Older iPhones, which normally become cheaper when a new generation arrives, now cost more too. The iPhone 17 has gone from Rs 82,900 to Rs 99,900, while the iPhone Air has risen from Rs 1,19,900 to Rs 1,49,900. And it is not just iPhones. Apple has raised prices across its hardware lineup.
The reason? One reason is the memory crisis. AI companies are buying memory in enormous quantities, pushing chip prices higher. But there may be another reason behind Apple's price hikes. A new report by The Wall Street Journal suggests that chipmakers, after years of being squeezed by Apple, are finally gaining the upper hand in negotiations.
Chipmakers are getting their revenge on Apple
According to a detailed report by WSJ citing data from research firm TechInsights, demand from AI hyperscalers has pushed flash memory prices up roughly fivefold in the past year. Flash memory that cost around 5 cents per gigabyte in 2023 now costs more than 30 cents, marking a jump of around 550 per cent.
The rising prices are already showing up in Apple's spending. The report estimates that Apple will spend around $25 billion on flash storage in 2026, compared with $6 billion in 2025, despite buying roughly the same quantity.
Two years ago, Apple bought nearly twice as much flash storage as Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Google combined. AI companies are now buying twice as much flash storage as Apple, giving suppliers more customers willing to pay higher prices.
Meta, Microsoft and Amazon have also reportedly signed long-term deals with chipmaker Kioxia, agreeing to pay more to secure supplies. This is leaving Apple with less bargaining power than before.
The report says Apple has long been known for driving a hard bargain with its suppliers. Since it bought such large quantities of chips, it could demand lower prices and tougher contract terms. It even checked suppliers’ accounts to make sure no other customer was getting a better deal. And when chip prices fell, Apple sometimes refused to take deliveries, leaving suppliers stuck with unsold chips.
Apple has also reportedly made huge profits from storage upgrades. The reported analysis estimates that, through 2025, Apple earned more than 80 cents in gross profit for every dollar it charged customers for extra storage on iPhones and iPads. Around 100 million iPhone buyers paid for storage upgrades last year, according to IDC estimates. These upgrades alone reportedly generated more than $10 billion in gross profit.
It is worth noting that these figures are estimates based on the WSJ's analysis and industry data, not numbers disclosed by Apple itself. Apple, for its part, says it values its long-standing supplier partnerships and looks forward to continuing to work with them.
How Apple prices have changed in India
Apple raised prices across nearly all its product lines in recent months, with iPhone prices increasing by an average of 13 per cent. Here is how the changes have played out in India.
The iPhone 18 Pro starts at Rs 1,64,900, up Rs 30,000 from the Rs 1,34,900 launch price of the iPhone 17 Pro.
The iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at Rs 1,79,900, also Rs 30,000 more than the iPhone 17 Pro Max's launch price of Rs 1,49,900.
Older models have not been spared either. The iPhone Air has gone from Rs 1,19,900 to Rs 1,49,900, a Rs 30,000 increase.
The 256GB iPhone 17 now costs Rs 99,900, up Rs 17,000 from Rs 82,900, while the 512GB variant has risen from Rs 1,02,900 to Rs 1,24,900, an increase of Rs 22,000.
The iPhone 17e now starts at Rs 79,900, up Rs 15,000 from Rs 64,900, and the iPhone 16 has gone from Rs 69,900 to Rs 89,900, a Rs 20,000 hike.
MacBooks and iPads were repriced earlier. The 13-inch MacBook Air now costs Rs 1,49,900, up Rs 30,000 from Rs 1,19,900. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with 1TB storage has become Rs 50,000 more expensive, rising from Rs 1,89,900 to Rs 2,39,900.
Among the iPads, the 11-inch iPad Air with 128GB storage has gone from Rs 64,900 to Rs 89,900, a Rs 25,000 increase.
The base 13-inch iPad Air is up by Rs 35,000, from Rs 84,900 to Rs 1,19,900, while the 256GB 11-inch iPad Pro has risen by Rs 40,000, from Rs 99,900 to Rs 1,39,900.