With predictions dominant that iPhone 18 prices will rise, Apple-focused analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (밍치궈) offered an opposing outlook.

NineToFiveMac reported on Jan. 27, local time, that Apple is likely to keep prices unchanged even though iPhone 18 component costs have increased.

TSMC has raised manufacturing costs for Apple’s A20 chip by expanding GPU production to respond to artificial intelligence growth. That fueled analysis that a price increase for the iPhone 18 was inevitable. Kuo forecast Apple will use market disruption as an opportunity to secure chips, absorb costs and expand market share.

Apple may offset losses through services revenue and is expected to minimise pressure from component costs by using its existing supply-chain strategy. The final price couldfne may change until the September launch, but expectations are emerging that any increase will be smaller than originally anticipated.

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…