Apple’s next premium iPhone may arrive with a sharper price jump than many buyers expect. TechInsights, as cited by The Wall Street Journal, estimates the iPhone 18 Pro could start between $1,299 and $1,399, with $1,399 viewed as the more likely figure.
That projection matters because Apple has already signaled that iPhone, iPad, and Mac products may become more expensive in the future. Tim Cook has pointed to rising DRAM and NAND costs, even though Apple still charges far above market rates for memory and SSD upgrades.
A familiar premium tier may move even higher
If the estimate proves accurate, the iPhone 18 Pro would climb well above the iPhone 17 Pro, which is priced at $1,099 in the US for the 256 GB model. The gap would place the new model closer to ultra-premium territory than to the price band most Pro buyers are used to seeing.
TechInsights based its outlook on internal analysis and component pricing trends. The firm also said Apple appears intent on preserving a 47 percent gross margin, a target that helps explain why retail pricing could rise to around $1,371 even before more expensive camera hardware is added.
Higher storage models could rise further
Any version with larger storage would likely sit above that starting point, and the iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone Ultra are also expected to land at even higher price levels. That approach would continue Apple’s pattern of separating its premium lineup by price and capability.
At the same time, higher component costs leave less room for Apple to absorb pressure without passing it on to customers. The result could be a lineup that feels more expensive across multiple tiers, not just at the base Pro level.
Not every forecast agrees
There is, however, another view from DigiTimes. The outlet said the base iPhone 18 could launch in spring 2027 at the same price, suggesting Apple may accept thinner margins on some models instead of raising every tier at once.
That split in expectations shows the final pricing picture is still uncertain. Even so, both the company’s own signals and analyst projections point in the same direction: the next generation of iPhone could cost noticeably more than the one before it.