The iPhone 16 sequence dropped final 12 months with the identical US costs because the iPhone 15 sequence. However the iPhone 17 would possibly include the primary worth improve in years.
The iPhone 17 sequence will get a $50 worth improve, in accordance with a Jefferies analyst Edison Lee. Since what President Donald Trump touted as “Liberation Day,” the doable impact of tariffs on the iPhone’s worth has been broadly mentioned. And but, regardless of tariffs and politics, iPhone costs have remained the identical up to now this 12 months.
Lee expects that to alter this fall. He says that the iPhone 17 Air (17 Slim), 17 Professional and 17 Professional Max will get a $50 worth improve to offset the upper prices of parts and tariffs, as reported by Enterprise Insider. He did not point out the common iPhone 17 getting a worth hike. If true, that will imply that the beginning costs for the iPhone 17 sequence will probably be:
- iPhone 17 – $829
- iPhone 17 Air – $979
- iPhone 17 Professional – $1,049
- iPhone 17 Professional Max – $1,249
Information on the worth hikes follows a Could report by The Wall Road Journal that Apple is contemplating a worth improve and will attribute the rise to new and up to date options as a substitute of tariffs. However the launch of the rumored iPhone 17 this fall will doubtless include a better worth, it doesn’t matter what Trump says or does.
Apple is the third-largest firm within the US, and most of its merchandise are manufactured in China. Clearly, the iPhone’s ubiquity has made it a logo for the continuing uncertainty of the US economic system and politics. However even with out larger part prices or tariffs, the iPhone has been overdue for a worth improve. The final worth hike was 5 years in the past.
From left: the iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Professional and 16 Professional Max. No matter all the things that is occurred in 2025, the worth of the telephones has remained the identical.
Traditionally, 5 years is the longest stretch of time Apple has gone with out a rise for the reason that 5 years between the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 7, which ended with the iPhone 8 launching at a better price. We will study lots by taking a look at how the corporate has dealt with earlier worth hikes (and a one-time drop) and what meaning for the iPhone 17.
To determine how doubtless we’re for a worth hike, I grouped iPhone fashions into just a few classes: the usual, the flagships and the behemoths. The usual contains fashions like the unique iPhone, the iPhone 8, the iPhone XR and the iPhone 16. The flagships embrace variants just like the iPhone X, iPhone 11 Professional and iPhone 16 Professional. And the behemoth’s designation is for telephones just like the iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone XS Max and iPhone 16 Professional Max. There are different variations that Apple offered, just like the iPhone 5C, the SE sequence, the iPhone Mini line and the present iPhone Plus line, that do not issue into this evaluation. Additionally, I exploit the US beginning worth for every iPhone earlier than any provider reductions are utilized. Let’s dive in.
Normal iPhone costs
The iPhone 16 launched in 2025 with a beginning worth of $829, the identical because the iPhone 12 did in 2020.
Since its debut in 2007, the usual iPhone has had 4 worth will increase and one correction. Many people would possibly bear in mind paying $199 for the unique iPhone, however in actuality, the cellphone price $499 off-contract. In 2008, Apple raised the worth $100 with the launch of the iPhone 3G to $599, the place it might keep for 4 years. Then, in 2012, the iPhone 5 was launched with a taller, 4-inch display and a better $649 price ticket.
Quick-forward to 2017, the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, and the iPhone 8 debuted at a price of $699, a $50 improve. Yearly between 2017 and 2019, the worth for the usual iPhone modified. In 2018, the iPhone XR launched at $749. The next 12 months, the iPhone 11 got here out, and the worth dropped again to $699. And what makes that drop attention-grabbing is that the iPhone 11 was the primary customary Apple cellphone with two rear cameras: a wide-angle and ultrawide. Up until then, all different customary iPhone fashions had solely a single rear digicam. From 2007 to 2019, when Apple elevated costs, it was in $50 increments, besides between the primary and second iPhone fashions.
Then 2020 occurred. It was a wild 12 months for the iPhone and everybody due to the pandemic. However Apple managed to launch the iPhone 12, which price $829, marking the most important improve for the usual iPhone: $130. Subsequent fashions all had the identical worth: The iPhone 13, 14, 15 and 16 all price $829.
If Apple follows its earlier sample, then the usual iPhone is due for a worth improve. The final increase was in 2020, 5 years in the past, and Apple has by no means gone six years with out a worth hike on the usual mannequin. However will the corporate slowly increase the worth over just a few years prefer it did between the iPhone 7, 8 and XR? Or will it go all in prefer it did with the iPhone 12?
The usual iPhone is Apple’s hottest, and it is secure to anticipate that the iPhone 17 will price extra (and would’ve even when Trump hadn’t been elected). Now we simply must marvel how a lot tariffs and politics would possibly drive the worth up much more.
The flagship: iPhone Professional mannequin costs
The iPhone 16 Professional got here out in 2024 with a beginning worth of $999, the identical because the 2017 iPhone X.
Apple hasn’t at all times had an iPhone Professional variant, nevertheless it did beginning in 2017 with the launch of the iPhone X, which had a beginning worth of $999. The cellphone debuted subsequent to the $699 iPhone 8, making the 8’s $50 improve appear to be nothing.
However this is the place issues get attention-grabbing. Apple has by no means raised the worth on the iPhone Professional mannequin. The iPhone X, XS, 11 Professional, 12 Professional, 13 Professional, 14 Professional, 15 Professional and 16 Professional all price $999. That is eight years with out a worth improve!
What’s much more stunning is while you appropriate for inflation: the 2017 iPhone X’s $999 worth could be $1,298 in 2025, in accordance with the Client Value Index Inflation calculator. The iPhone Professional is overdue for a worth hike, and I anticipate the iPhone 17 Professional to price extra.
The behemoths: iPhone Plus, Max and Professional Max costs
The iPhone 16 Professional (left) and iPhone 16 Professional Max.
Since 2014, Apple has offered an enormous model of the iPhone. A few of these had been nothing greater than a bigger model of the usual iPhone with a much bigger display and battery in addition to some minor variations, just like the iPhone 6 Plus having optical picture stabilization on its digicam whereas the iPhone 6 did not. However starting with the iPhone 7 Plus, the bigger model began having “professional” options, like a second rear digicam and portrait mode.
By way of pricing, the iPhone 6 Plus debuted at $749, which was $100 greater than the iPhone 6. And that $749 worth caught round for the iPhone 6S Plus and seven Plus. In 2017, Apple had three iPhone fashions: the $699 iPhone 8, the $749 iPhone 8 Plus (a $50 improve from the 7 Plus) and the $999 iPhone X.
In 2018, Apple launched the $1,099 iPhone XS Max, which I think about the true successor to the preliminary iPhone Plus line. Which means the large iPhone acquired a $350 improve in a single 12 months, the most important Apple has ever made. I admit some individuals won’t suppose the XS Max is a follow-up to the Plus and would deem it a wholly new iPhone variant. However that is my commentary.
Just like the iPhone Professional, the Max and Professional Max would have the identical worth for years. In 2023, Apple raised the barrier of entry for the Professional Max mannequin and did not provide a $1,099 model of the iPhone 15 Professional Max with 128GB of storage. As an alternative, you needed to pay $1,199 for the 256GB variant, which technically price the identical because the iPhone 14 Professional Max with 256GB of storage.
The iPhone 17 and 17 Professional’s costs
Nobody is aware of how a lot the rumored iPhone 17 will price, besides Apple.
Even with out tariffs, it is secure to imagine that the iPhone 17 lineup’s costs will probably be larger for some fashions. However while you consider all the things that is occurred this 12 months, it is onerous to gauge simply how a lot the worth will go up and whether or not that’ll have an effect on only one or two fashions, or apply throughout your entire iPhone 17 line.
Earlier this 12 months, Apple raised the worth on its most reasonably priced mannequin. Although it lacks the SE branding of the earlier low-cost iPhone, the iPhone 16E got here with a $599 price ticket, $170 greater than the $429 iPhone SE (2022).
Apple would not speak about unreleased merchandise or their costs. However we do have an unusual-for-Apple clue as to how these tariffs may have an effect on the corporate.
“Assuming the present world tariff charges, insurance policies, and purposes don’t change for the stability of the quarter and no new tariffs are added, we estimate the affect so as to add $900 million to our prices,” Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner mentioned throughout a quarterly earnings name on Could 1.
Clearly, that $900 million quantity wasn’t only for the iPhone, however for all Apple merchandise. And that was three weeks earlier than Trump threatened one other tariff aimed purely on the iPhone. However $900 million is lots for any firm to swallow, and ultimately that added price will should be made up for. That often means larger costs, even when Apple is pressured by Trump to attribute the rise to “new designs and options.”
If there’s one factor for sure, we’ll know precisely what these costs will probably be when Apple launches the following era of iPhone fashions at its September occasion.
Apple did not reply to a request for remark.
