A forecast says parts costs for Apple's next iPhone 18 Pro 256GB model due this autumn will rise about 38 percent from the previous generation. On Aug. 12, Japan-based online outlet Gigazine reported that market research firm TrendForce expects the cost burden for the iPhone 18 Pro, which is expected to launch in September 2026, to increase because of a surge in memory prices.

The backdrop is a restructuring of memory production driven by expanding AI demand. Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron are allocating more production capacity to high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a key component in AI accelerators, than to memory for consumer devices. HBM generates 3 to 5 times more profit per wafer than LPDDR5X memory used in iPhones. Micron said that when HBM wafer shipments for AI accelerators rise by 1 wafer, shipments of conventional DRAM wafers fall by 3 wafers.

As a result, the cost of 12GB memory in the iPhone 18 Pro is estimated to jump to $145 from $39 in the iPhone 17 Pro. Apple CEO Tim Cook (팀 쿡) described the surge in memory prices as a "once-in-a-century flood". Analysts and tech company CEOs see the supply shortage lasting from the fourth quarter of 2027 to 2030.

TrendForce expects the total parts cost of the iPhone 18 Pro 256GB model due in the third quarter of 2026 to rise about 38 percent from the iPhone 17 Pro launched in 2025. It also forecast that the share of memory in total parts cost will jump to 34 percent in the third quarter of 2026 from about 10 percent in 2025, and exceed 40 percent in the first half of 2027.

The iPhone 18 Pro selling price could rise by $200 to $270 from its predecessor to $1,299 to $1,369, another forecast says. Actual pricing could vary depending on whether Apple reflects higher costs in consumer prices or absorbs part of them by lowering margins.

Apple is assessed to have prioritised maintaining market share by sacrificing part of its margin to hold prices down with the MacBook Neo released in March 2026. Revenue in the Mac segment rose 29 percent year on year in April to June, the third quarter of fiscal 2026. A similar strategy could be applied to the iPhone 18 Pro.

Apple has not raised iPhone prices worldwide, but it increased prices in Japan in July 2026. Cook is also due to step down as CEO on Sept. 1, with John Ternus set to become the new CEO, making the September product launch event Ternus' first keynote.