Price bump rumors have always done their rounds when discussing the newer iPhone series, and Apple has always found a way to drown out the background noise and maintain the same starting price for years. Unfortunately, the current geopolitical landscape means that the company may be unable to keep this up for very long, with one analyst commenting that the iPhone 17 series could likely receive a price hike later this year. Fortunately, the technology giant can find a way around customer dissent by offering storage upgrades to justify paying the additional sum, and it will need to think about every explanation it can brainstorm because the competition will not slow down either.
A 20 percent tariff applied on iPhones assembled in China might have forced Apple’s hand, with a previous estimation mentioning that a $50 price hike was imminent
Investment firm GF Securities’ analyst Jeff Pu mentioned in a research note spotted by MacRumors that the iPhone 17 lineup would be more expensive than the iPhone 16. Typically, analysts mention a specific figure, but on this occasion, no such details were provided, other than the fact that consumers who are preparing to upgrade to any of Apple’s flagship handsets next month will have to pay extra. Previously, we reported that a $50 price hike was imminent, but not every model will become more expensive than its direct predecessor.
However, the iPhone 17 Pro is now rumored to start with a base storage of 256GB, just like the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which should offer some justification as to why Apple is bumping up that price. During the iPhone 15 Pro Max launch, the Cupertino firm phased out the 128GB storage variant in favor of a 256GB one, but it also introduced a starting price $1,199 instead of $1,099, which might have caught consumers off guard, but at least they knew that they were getting double the base internal memory.
Apple might get away with this tactic for another year, but only if it increases the base storage to 256GB for the entire iPhone 17 family. Since the analyst did not provide an in-depth look at which specific model customers will have to cough up a premium for, we cannot comment on how expensive the upcoming lineup will be other than our own estimations. Keeping the price hike in mind, the new series could start from $849, but we will keep our readers updated on the latest, so stay tuned.