Apple’s next premium iPhone may arrive with a noticeably heavier price tag. The main pressure point is the global memory crunch, which is driving up the cost of RAM and storage components used in the iPhone 18 Pro.
Industry reports cited by Beritasatu.com and The Wall Street Journal indicate that Apple has already signaled the possibility of price adjustments to offset rising memory costs. That makes the iPhone 18 Pro one of the models most exposed to the fallout from the ongoing component shortage.
Production costs are climbing fast
TechInsights estimates suggest a sharp jump in key component costs for the iPhone 18 Pro. The 12GB RAM module, which was said to cost around US$ 39 in the iPhone 17 Pro, is now projected to reach US$ 145 in the iPhone 18 Pro with 256GB storage.
Internal storage is also becoming more expensive. The 256GB memory component, previously estimated at about US$ 13, is now projected to cost around US$ 51.
Together, those increases could push the production cost of the iPhone 18 Pro to US$ 726 per unit. That would be well above the estimated US$ 582 production cost of the iPhone 17 Pro.
What that could mean for the retail price
TechInsights’ analysis says Apple can still preserve a strong profit margin on its premium models. For the iPhone 17 Pro 256GB, which sells for US$ 1,099 in the United States, Apple’s estimated margin is around 47%.
If that margin is maintained, the iPhone 18 Pro could climb to US$ 1,371. A more realistic scenario in the report points to a price of about US$ 1,299, with a gross margin of roughly 44%.
Even that lower scenario highlights how much pressure component costs are placing on the model. In the premium smartphone market, memory price spikes often flow directly into the final retail price.
Other features could add more pressure
Memory is not the only factor that could lift the price. The iPhone 18 Pro is also rumored to feature a new variable aperture camera system, which is said to cost at least 50% more to produce than the current setup.
If that feature does arrive, the starting price could rise again to US$ 1,399. Using an exchange rate of Rp 17,700 per US dollar, that would be equivalent to about Rp 24.76 million.
The US$ 1,299 scenario works out to about Rp 22.99 million. After taxes, import costs, distribution, and retail margins, the official Indonesian price for the iPhone 18 Pro could land in the Rp 26 million to Rp 28 million range for the 256GB model.
Pressure may not stop with the Pro model
The price increase is also expected to affect the iPhone 18 Pro Max, which is projected to rise from the previous generation’s starting price of US$ 1,199. That would extend the impact of the memory crisis beyond a single model.
For the broader premium smartphone market, the message is clear: component costs are becoming harder to ignore. If memory shortages do not ease, Apple may have to adjust pricing across its next iPhone lineup more aggressively than before.