There are new shiny iPhones, so Apple is making you pay more for older models

At its Surprise and Shine event, Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 alongside its first foldable handset, the iPhone Duo. Along with the new hardware, the company implemented an immediate $100 increase to the list prices of several current iPhone models on its online store.

Under the new pricing, the iPhone 16 now starts at $799, the iPhone 17e at $699, the iPhone 17 at $899, and the iPhone Air at $1,099. Some international markets saw sharper increases; for example, reports indicate prices in India rose by about 20.5%. Apple also removed the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max from its lineup.

The decision departs from Apple’s usual pattern of discounting older models after a new launch. Company executives and industry observers had signaled the possibility of higher prices amid rising component costs, particularly for memory and storage chips. Demand for those components has grown as AI firms and cloud providers expand data-center capacity, tightening supply.

In a June interview with The Wall Street Journal, former Apple CEO Tim Cook warned that escalating component costs might force Apple to change its pricing approach, saying the company could no longer fully absorb increases in memory and storage prices. About a week after those remarks, Apple raised prices across its Mac and iPad ranges. The company may also be relying on its Upgrade program, which spreads device costs into monthly payments, to make higher sticker prices less noticeable to customers, and to keep pace with rival price moves from Samsung and Google.