This primarily includes the impact of higher storage costs as well as some costs related to the ramp-up of Siri AI,
said Kevan Parekh, Chief Financial Officer.
Apple is now charging more than three times the estimated cost for iPhone 18 Pro storage upgrades as the company works to offset rising component expenses.
In the United States, the price to boost capacity from 256 GB to 1 TB has climbed to 600 dollars. This pricing strategy marks a sharp departure from the iPhone 17 Pro, where the same upgrade carried a 400 dollar premium against estimated component costs of just 42 dollars.
Analysts estimate the current flash memory required for the iPhone 18 Pro costs Apple 192 dollars. Consequently, the consumer upgrade price is now roughly 3.1 times higher than the actual cost of the parts.
In June, the company raised prices across five MacBook and iPad models to account for memory costs, the first instance of such expenses being passed directly to consumers. The firm cites the surging demand for storage, driven by the expansion of AI data centers, as the primary catalyst for these costs.
The financial strain is manifesting globally. In Germany, the price gap for the 1 TB upgrade on the iPhone 18 Pro has surged to 750 euros, a steep increase from the 500 euros required for the same upgrade on the iPhone 17 Pro.
Leadership expects these conditions to endure. During the latest earnings call, executives indicated that memory purchasing prices are projected to climb beyond the December quarter, leaving the door open for further price adjustments.
