Overview
- Late‑August reports from Bloomberg and multiple outlets say Apple is preparing to announce iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max and a foldable iPhone Ultra at a September event while planning roughly $100 higher starting prices for Pro models.
- Component pressures driving the move include rising DRAM and NAND costs, wafer‑level packaging constraints for the A20 Pro at TSMC and yield risks on the new 2nm chip node.
- Apple is concentrating initial supply on premium models and the foldable, which could delay standard iPhone 18 and lower‑tier models into 2027.
- Early testers praise the iPhone Ultra’s hinge, pocketable inner display and iPad‑like UI but note it reportedly omits a telephoto lens and Face ID in favour of Touch ID, a tradeoff that may affect buyer choices at a high expected price.
- Retailers and Apple are already using trade‑ins, bank discounts and a Klarna‑backed Apple Upgrade leasing option to soften higher upfront costs and regional price changes could be larger in markets such as India for higher‑storage configurations.