And maybe also irritates some customers
As Apple can discreetly increase iPhone prices in this fall without blaming tariffs
by Clare DuffyCNN
The new iPhones can come at a higher price in this fall.
Some analysts expect Apple to increase the prices of the next iPhones because of President Donald Trump’s fares. And the company is considering this, according to the Wall Street Journal.
This can result in an increase in price of Apple’s most important product.
But increasing prices because of tariffs risks attracting Trump’s wrath. Therefore, Apple can try to associate these higher prices with new AI resources, for example, rather than increasing the value consumers will see in the price label, analysts say.
Apple is also expected to launch an iPhone new version this year, a measure that can give Apple the opportunity to adjust the price of its entire range of devices. At the same time, the input barrier to a new iPhone has become higher than ever, now that Apple has replaced the iPhone SE, more economical, with the most expensive iPhone 16E.
“When we say price increases, we do not necessarily refer to equivalent price increases. We do not necessarily want to say that the iPhone 17 will be more expensive than the equivalent iPhone 16,” says Gil Luria, director of technological research at Davidson’s investment group. “There are several ways for Apple to increase prices.”
Apple did not respond to a request for comment on this topic.
Adjust as rates
The tariffs put the Apple in a complicated position. Although working to transfer your supply chain to other areas, such as India and Vietnam, it continues to produce most iPhones in China. The imposition of high customs rights to the country means that Apple has to increase prices or support the cost of import rights, reducing its margins. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said he expects tariffs to cost Apple 800 million euros in the second quarter of 2025 alone, although he said the company plans to do in India most iPhones it will sell in the US.
Smartphones are currently free of reciprocal tariffs and Trump management announced on Monday a temporary trade agreement with China that will reverse rates of tariffs for 90 days. These factors should relieve financial risk to Apple and other large technology companies, at least temporarily. But it does not completely eliminate the costs of tariffs – and there is still much uncertainty about the future of White House trade policy.
Prior to Monday’s agreement, Daniel Morgan, Synovus’s senior portfolio manager, estimated that Apple would have to increase equipment prices by about 30% if he wanted to completely compensate for the impact of tariffs on his profits. A 30% increase would mean that the iPhone 17 basic model would cost more than $ 1,000 in the US, compared to the current price of $ 799 iPhone 16. In Portugal, an iPhone 16 costs 989 euros.
Despite the latest agreement between the US and China, “it is likely to arrive time for a price increase,” said Wedbush Dan Ives analyst on Monday.
But Tim Cook has been working to please Trump, including his presence in his inauguration and the announcement of an investment of 446 billion euros to expand Apple facilities in the US, which the president considered a political victory.
Increase prices without causing shock
Instead, Apple can assign any price increases to other factors such as new AI or new hardware features.
However, Apple has already launched AI once. The company launched its AI resources, nicknamed “Apple Intelligence” in October 2024, weeks after the Iphone 16 premiere. The renewed version of Siri, which was announced last year, was postponed.
“The question is: Will people realize enough value to pay?” Asks Morgan.
Apple is indeed considering associating a potential price increase with this type of updates, even if the rates are a contributing factor, according to the Wall Street Journal report.
There are also rumors that the company is preparing to launch a new thinner version of the iPhone, possibly called iPhone 17 Air, according to reports from Bloomberg and TFI Securities. This model will probably be positioned as a premium device, similar to the newly announced Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, giving Apple an opportunity to shake its prices throughout the line.
In February, Apple launched its first mobile modem on iPhone 16E, another hardware change that can make an excuse to adjust prices on future models.
“Consumers would probably feel better by paying more for a thinner phone or design and format changes, instead of feeling like someone in the middle of a trade war,” says Mike Bailey, research director of the FBB Capital Partners Fortune Management Company.
Luria adds that there are also other ways that Apple charge more than “less noticeable”, such as providing less free ICLOUD storage.
“It’s not that consumers don’t realize at all, but it doesn’t change the table price of iPhones,” he says. “I venture to guess that it is more the kind of change that Apple is studying.”
If Apple increases iPhone prices may have to do it at the expense of fewer updates. The company has faced slow sales of iPhone in recent years, as consumers spend more time with each model than buying, although device revenue has increased in the first quarter of 2025.
