Apple May Raise iPhone 18 Pro Price to $1,299

Apple is expected to increase the starting price of the iPhone 18 Pro to $1,299 as a result of a severe global memory chip shortage. This memory crunch stems from the high demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI data centers, which consumes more manufacturing capacity than conventional DRAM.

Apple CEO Tim Cook characterized the current memory pricing environment as a "100-year flood." Memory manufacturers Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are prioritizing lucrative, long-term contracts with AI giants such as Nvidia, Meta, and Microsoft over consumer electronics. Other hardware providers, including Microsoft and Meta, have already raised prices on the Xbox and Quest 3 headsets to offset similar costs.

While manufacturers are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in new facilities, meaningful output is not expected until 2030. This includes a massive project by Micron Technology in New York. Micron President and COO Manish Bhatia noted the difficulty of scaling production, stating that the company needs to build more wafer capacity.