The September 9 event settled the rumors. iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 and the Pro Max at $1,299, a $100 bump over the iPhone 17 Pro line, matching what Bloomberg's Mark Gurman called beforehand and milder than the figures analysts floated over the summer. Both went on sale September 18.
But the headline number isn't where the price story is. The storage ladder is.
The actual lineup (US, as announced)
| Model | Base price | Top config (2TB) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 18 Pro | $1,199 | $2,399 | On sale Sept 18 |
| iPhone 18 Pro Max | $1,299 | $2,599 | On sale Sept 18 |
| iPhone Duo (foldable) | $1,999 | $3,199 | Pre-orders Oct 16, on sale Oct 23 |
| iPhone 18 / 18e | Not announced | — | Spring 2027 |
The spread to notice: going from 256GB to 2TB costs $1,200 on the Pro, roughly the price of a second phone. It's the first time a Pro model has offered 2TB, and a large share of this year's component inflation landed on the high-capacity tiers.
Why prices moved: AI bought up the memory, Apple parked the increase in storage tiers
The causal chain hasn't changed. AI data-center buildouts are consuming enormous DRAM and NAND supply, memory prices are up industry-wide, and phone makers' component costs followed. Apple was reported stockpiling parts in August to lock in supply before further increases.
Gurman's post-event reporting filled in the hedge: on the Duo, the memory crunch "blew through" Apple's cost targets, and Apple ate part of the cost to hold the entry price at $1,999, making it up on higher storage capacities. The same move shows up on the Pro: only $100 more at the door, but each storage step costs $200 and the jump to 2TB runs $1,200 over base.
The increase didn't disappear. It moved from "everyone pays a little more" to "big-storage buyers pay a lot more."
The Duo is the counter-signal
Apple's first foldable, with a 7.6-inch inner screen, 5.4-inch outer screen and the same A20 Pro, starts at $1,999. Two things stand out: it landed roughly $500 under IDC's expected $2,500, and it undercuts Samsung's Z Fold8 Ultra ($2,099) by $100. Apple raised prices on nearly everything this year, then priced aggressively on the one product where it had no installed base to protect. In foldables it wants share, not margin.
Buy now or wait
If your budget is $650–800: nothing new exists at that tier this fall; the standard iPhone 18 and 18e don't arrive until spring 2027. Your options are the iPhone 17 (from $799, with carrier and retail discounts already loosening post-event) or waiting for the 18e.
If you're buying a Pro: capacity choice matters more than timing this year. The $100 base bump is the smallest in years, but buyers of 1TB or 2TB are paying for the memory shortage directly; a 256GB model paired with iCloud storage may save you the price of an Apple Watch compared to maxing out.
Sources: Apple newsroom and product pages (Sept 9 announcement, Sept 18 launch), MacRumors pricing coverage, Bloomberg/Gurman supply-chain reporting (retrieved Sept 2026). iPhone 18/18e pricing not yet announced.