Apple’s next flagship smartphone may come with a significantly higher production cost. According to a new report from Counterpoint Research, the bill of materials for a 1TB iPhone 18 Pro Max could be nearly $300 more than that of the 1TB iPhone 17 Pro Max. The primary reason: surging prices for memory chips and the new A20 Pro processor.
What’s Driving the Cost Increase?
The largest contributor is the rising cost of NAND flash storage and DRAM. NAND alone could exceed $250 per unit on the 1TB model, a figure approaching the total component cost of an entire older-generation iPhone. Memory chips are currently in short supply due to increased demand from AI-enabled smartphones and AI server infrastructure.
The iPhone 18 Pro Max is expected to feature 12GB of RAM, up from 8GB on the current model, further adding to cost. The A20 Pro chip, likely the first phone chip built on TSMC’s new 2nm process node, is also more expensive to manufacture than its predecessor.
Offsetting Savings and Price Adjustments
Not all components will see price increases. The display and certain other parts may actually become cheaper. Camera costs could rise, possibly due to the introduction of a variable aperture lens. Apple is expected to adjust pricing differently across storage tiers to maintain profit margins on higher-capacity models.
What to Expect at Launch
The iPhone 18 Pro series is anticipated to launch in September. Average price increases could land around $200, with the largest jumps reserved for the top storage configurations. Apple has not yet announced official pricing.
For more details, read the full report from Counterpoint Research.