Apple has raised the prices of its existing iPhone models by $100 across its online store, breaking with its traditional strategy of discounting older hardware upon the arrival of new devices, driven globally by severe memory chip shortages and rising AI data center demand.
For years, the autumn ritual of a new Apple hardware showcase brought a predictable silver lining for budget-conscious buyers: last year’s flagship devices immediately dropped in price. That customary discount vanished on Wednesday following the company’s Surprise and shine
event, which featured the debut of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max alongside a brand-new foldable device named the iPhone Duo.
New Higher Price Tags Across Older iPhone Generations
Shopppers browsing Apple’s online store on Wednesday encountered unexpected price increases applied retroactively to older generations still sold new by the company. The iPhone 16 now starts at $799, climbing back up from its recent $699 discount and restoring the baseline cost to its September 2024 launch price.
The adjustments touch nearly every active legacy option in the lineup. The iPhone 17 family, which debuted earlier in the year at lower entry points, has likewise grown more expensive. The iPhone 17E with 256GB of storage now retails for $699 instead of its initial $599 price, while the standard iPhone 17 with equivalent storage starts at $899 instead of $799. The iPhone Air, launched nearly a year ago, now costs $1,099, marking a $100 jump over its original $999 debut figure. Meanwhile, Apple has quietly discontinued both the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max entirely.
Global Memory Shortages and Surging AI Infrastructure Demand
The unconventional strategy reflects unprecedented pressures within the semiconductor supply chain. Explosive global demand for specialized components to power massive data centers for artificial intelligence has forced chipmakers to shift production away from consumer-grade memory and storage chips.
The supply pinch was foreshadowed earlier in the summer when former Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged during an earnings call that the corporation had reluctantly raised prices
on iPads and Mac computers by as much as 20% to 25% due to unsustainable component costs. At that time, existing iPhone prices remained untouched.
Industry-Wide Pricing Pressure and International Impact
Apple is not alone in absorbing these escalating expenses. Competitors across the mobile sector have similarly adjusted retail prices upward. Ahead of its Pixel 11 launch, Google’s vice president of devices and services, Shakil Barkat, noted that There’s never been an increase in memory prices like the world’s going through right now.
Google ultimately added $100 to the price of the Pixel 11 while doubling its baseline storage, and officials at Samsung have implemented parallel hikes across select smartphone models.
For international buyers, the burden is even heavier. In markets like India, price surges have reached approximately 20.5% for affected consumers.
| iPhone Model | Previous Price | New Price |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone 16 | $699 | $799 |
| iPhone 17E (256GB) | $599 | $699 |
| iPhone 17 (256GB) | $799 | $899 |
| iPhone Air | $999 | $1,099 |
| iPhone 18 Pro / Pro Max | Previous Pro Baseline ($100 less) | Starting $100 higher than predecessors |
As preorders for the newly announced iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max open on Saturday, September 12, ahead of an official September 18 release date, consumers looking for a lower-cost entry point into Apple’s ecosystem face a permanently altered pricing landscape.