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Next year's iPhones could be even more expensive.
Photo: Apple

iPhone price hikes in 2027 could already be locked in. Apple reportedly accepted Samsung’s new memory prices, securing its supply for the first quarter of next year. And that extra supply chain cost could boost the price of next year’s iPhones as well as iPads and Macs.

What’s fueling Apple price hikes in 2027

The global memory crunch shows no signs of abating, with AI and cloud companies locking up enormous amounts of DRAM and NAND capacity. That leaves consumer electronics makers like Apple to fight over what’s left — and pay more for it.

The deal centers on RAM and storage, the components inside almost every Apple product. Apple reportedly agreed to pay close to $2 per gigabit for LPDDR5x RAM. That price might kick in during the first quarter of 2027. NAND storage is expected to cost somewhere around 33 cents per gigabit.

The figures come from a Monday post from Semiconductor Insider on X and a Wednesday DigiTimes report, both citing supply chain sources. Those prices are already 30% to 40% higher than what Apple paid in the third quarter of 2026.

AI and cloud companies have been locking up memory supply years in advance. Analyst firm TrendForce says DRAM and high-bandwidth memory capacity at Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron is already booked through 2027. Unsurprisingly, most of that capacity went to long-term cloud and AI contracts.

Now, Apple has reportedly secured its memory supply for the fourth quarter of 2026. That means there may not be any price hikes before the year ends. But the real pain is expected to start once the new Samsung pricing kicks in next year.

Apple price hikes are already underway

You probably won’t have to wait for 2027 to see this play out. The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max already cost $100 more than last year’s models. Apple also increased the price of some older iPhone models like the standard iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro.

Apple raised prices on several other products back in June, too. Macs, iPads and Apple TVs all got more expensive. So did the HomePod, HomePod mini, and Vision Pro, with some hikes reaching $300.

Former Apple CEO Tim Cook called the hikes unavoidable and compared the chip shortage to a “100-year flood.”

• See also: Ouch: Apple’s Mac and iPad price hikes are brutal

Samsung’s new terms aren’t just an Apple problem

Samsung reportedly tried to push the same higher prices onto Oppo and Vivo, but both phone makers are said to have refused to accept the new terms. However, it remains unclear which memory supplier they turned to instead. And once Apple locks in its own deal with Samsung, smaller phone makers will have even less room to negotiate. 

Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 18, iPhone Air 2 and iPhone 18e in the first half of 2027. Whether Apple absorbs the new memory costs or passes them onto buyers remains to be seen.

• See also: Don’t think Apple is done: New Macs, iPads and more are coming soon