Although the iPhone 17 Pro has double the base storage compared to the iPhone 16 Pro, there will apparently be no additional increase this year.
In a report released this week estimating that the iPhone 18 Pro’s bill of materials will be nearly 40% larger than the iPhone 17 Pro’s, Taiwanese research firm TrendForce said the iPhone 18 Pro will start with 256GB of storage, which matches the minimum capacity of the iPhone 17 Pro. The report doesn’t explicitly mention the iPhone 18 Pro Max, but the Pro and Pro Max models have started with the same amount of storage for the past two generations.
Minimum storage capacities per model:
- iPhone 16 Pro: 128 GB
- iPhone 17 Pro: 256 GB
- iPhone 18 Pro (rumor): 256 GB
While it doesn’t expect an increase in base storage, TrendForce said retail price increases for iPhone 18 Pro models are “inevitable” due to rising component costs. RAM costs have increased significantly due to the current shortage of memory chips, and prices for storage and A20 Pro chips are also expected to be higher.
According to reports, the starting prices of the iPhone 18 Pro in the US could be $200-300 higher than the iPhone 17 Pro. If so, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max could start at $1,399 and $1,499, respectively.
In June, Apple raised prices on all Macs and iPads, as well as the Apple TV, HomePod, HomePod mini, and Vision Pro. The increases ranged from $30 for the HomePod mini to $1,300 for a high-end Mac Studio configuration.
Apple said it raised prices due to the current shortage of memory chips, resulting from the construction of data centers with powerful AI servers. The imbalance between supply and demand has led to a spike in prices for RAM and SSD storage chips used in a wide range of Apple products, and Apple has now passed those costs on to customers.
Apple CEO Tim Cook previously said price increases were “inevitable” due to a “100-year flood” in memory prices.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 18 Pro models in September.
