Apple is preparing to raise iPhone prices following similar moves from Samsung and Google, according to Bloomberg's [Mark Gurman]. Apple raised prices on almost every major product category two months ago, with affected Macs and iPads rising about 23% on average. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, [Mark Gurman] said that the iPhone faces the same memory and chip supply chain issues affecting Apple's other products, so a price increase "remains inevitable." Apple has apparently been closely observing how Samsung and Google respond to higher component costs.

Both companies raised prices on their latest smartphones by about $100. Matching that increase would put the iPhone 18 Pro's starting price at $1,199, up about 9% from the current iPhone 17 Pro's $1,099 starting price. Given the severity of the memory crunch, [Mark Gurman] says that is a "fairly modest bump," suggesting Apple is absorbing some of the added costs itself.

The company has already warned of pressure on gross margins this quarter, which is a sign it is not passing on all of its growing expenses to customers. Apple still has good reason not to push too far. A $100 increase would keep the iPhone broadly in Samsung's pricing territory and avoid the "sticker shock" of the steeper hikes imposed on the [iPad].

Nevertheless, [Mark Gurman] says that Apple has room to go higher, since the Mac and iPad price increases were far larger and the iPhone has a loyal customer base to draw on. The new [Apple Upgrade subscription program] could also soften the blow by allowing buyers to spread the higher cost across monthly payments rather than paying the full price upfront.