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iPhone 18 Series Pricing Could Remain Unchanged Despite Rising Memory Costs, Analyst Claims

iPhone 18 Series Pricing Could Remain Unchanged Despite Rising Memory Costs, Analyst Claims

Apple has reportedly shifted iPhone memory pricing negotiations from a six-month cycle to a quarterly basis.

Written by Nithya P Nair, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 29 January 2026 13:53 IST

iPhone 18 Series Pricing Could Remain Unchanged Despite Rising Memory Costs, Analyst Claims

Photo Credit: Apple

iPhone 17 Pro starts at Rs. 1,34,900 for the base variant

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Highlights

Apple aims to keep iPhone 18 steady this year
Kuo confirms earlier reports of a price increase in LPDDR memory
Apple could offset the cost through revenue generated by its services

iPhone 18 series is said to be in development with Apple's A20 or A20 Pro chipsets. The purported iPhone 18 Pro, and iPhone 18 Pro Max models could hit the market in September this year, while the iPhone 18 model is rumoured to arrive early next year. Earlier reports suggested that Apple might increase prices across the range due to rising component costs. However, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has now pushed back against these claims. He suggests that Apple may keep the starting price of the iPhone 18 lineup unchanged.

iPhone 18 Price Could Remain the Same

In an X post, Kuo opines that Apple is likely to avoid raising iPhone 18 prices as much as possible, which means that the handsets could arrive at the same price as the iPhone 17 lineup. Rising memory costs are expected to hit the gross margins of iPhone, but the analysts say Apple will use the market chaos to their advantage by securing the chips, "absorb the costs, and grab more market share".

A few quick thoughts on Apple/iPhone memory price hikes:

1. The 1Q26 LPDDR price hikes mentioned in the news are pretty close to what I've heard. NAND flash increases, however, are a bit lower.

2. iPhone memory pricing is now negotiated quarterly instead of every six months, so…
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) January 27, 2026

Kuo confirms earlier reports of a price increase in LPDDR memory during the first quarter of this year. The NAND flash price hikes have been relatively lower. The analyst said Apple has shifted iPhone memory pricing negotiations from a six-month cycle to a quarterly basis, making another price increase likely in the second quarter of this year.

The increasing memory cost and cost pressures could become a key discussion point during Apple's upcoming earnings call. Kuo says Apple's comments will potentially impact stocks across multiple industries more than Apple's stock and its suppliers. He noted that the ongoing AI server boom will continue to put pressure on the broader supply chain, and Apple could offset the cost through revenue generated by its services.

Past rumours suggested that Apple might increase prices across the range due to rising component costs. For reference, the iPhone 17 price in India starts at Rs. 82,900, while the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max start at Rs. 1,34,900 and Rs. 1,49,900, respectively, for the base variants.

iPhone 17

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Transformative and brighter ProMotion display
Powerful performance
Meaningful camera upgrades
More value-for-money
Great battery life

Bad
iOS 26 has glitches
Ineffective anti-reflective coating

Read detailed Apple iPhone 17 review

Display 6.30-inch

Processor Apple A19

Front Camera 18-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 48-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 256GB, 512GB

OS iOS 26

Resolution 1206x2622 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

iPhone 17 Pro

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 6.30-inch

Processor Apple A19 Pro

Front Camera 18-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 48-megapixel + 48-megapixel

RAM 12GB

Storage 256GB, 512GB, 1TB

OS iOS 26

Resolution 1206x2622 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

iPhone 17 Pro Max

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
The boldest redesign since the iPhone X
Bright and stunning display
A19 Pro under the hood guarantees excellent performance
Massive camera upgrade
Video quality gets a much-needed bump
Centre Stage camera at the front changes selfie game on iPhones forever
Improved charging speed

Bad
Aluminium body picks up scratches
Expensive
Heavier than the 16 Pro Max

Read detailed Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review

Display 6.90-inch

Processor Apple A19 Pro

Front Camera 18-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 48-megapixel + 48-megapixel

RAM 12GB

Storage 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB

OS iOS 26

Resolution 1320x2868 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

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Further reading: Apple, iPhone 18, iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone 18 Series, iPhone 17

Nithya P Nair

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Nithya P Nair is a journalist with more than five years of experience in digital journalism. She specialises in business and technology beats. A foodie at heart, Nithya loves exploring new places (read cuisines) and sneaking in Malayalam movie dialogues to spice up conversations. More