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"textContent": "On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss potential price rises for the iPhone 18 lineup following Apple's wave of hikes yesterday, as well as plans for the Apple Watch Ultra 4 and camera-equipped AirPods.\n\n\n\n_Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos_\n\n\n\nApple yesterday raised prices across most of its lineup, including HomePod mini, HomePod, Apple TV, the entire iPad line, the entire Mac line, and Vision Pro, following CEO Tim Cook's warning to The Wall Street Journal that hikes were \"unavoidable\" due to soaring memory and storage chip costs. Apple's online store was briefly taken offline before returning with the new pricing, with increases ranging from $30 on the HomePod mini to $1,300 on the high end Mac Studio, averaging $246.67 across the affected products.\n\nThe iPhone, AirPods, Studio Display, Apple Watch, and accessories such as the Apple Pencil appear to be the only product lines left unaffected. Separately, the 256GB Mac mini has returned to the lineup after disappearing earlier this year, now priced at $799, which is a $200 increase over its earlier price.\n\nThe same pressure is likely to hit the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, which were already speculated to cost more than their predecessors before yesterday's increases. Speaking with the _Wall Street Journal_ , Cook acknowledged Apple isn't immune to these cost pressures, and said clarity on iPhone pricing would come with the lineup's September launch.\n\nCiting research firm TechInsights, the _Wall Street Journal_ reported that DRAM and flash storage costs are projected to roughly quadruple by fall, pushing the iPhone 17 Pro's bill of materials from about $582 up 25% to around $726 for its successor. TechInsights has said Apple would need to raise the iPhone 18 Pro's price by about $270 to preserve current margins, though Apple's preference for standardized pricing makes a $1,299 starting price more likely on its own.\n\nFactoring in the new camera system, which analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says could cost about 50% more than the previous generation, the _Wall Street Journal_ estimates Apple could ultimately set the iPhone 18 Pro's starting price at $1,399 or higher, a $200 to $300 jump over the current model, with the iPhone 18 Pro Max likely starting $100 above that.\n\nThe iPhone 18 Pro is rumored to keep the iPhone 17 Pro's aluminum build, with four new colors including Dark Cherry, a muted wine-red expected to be the signature shade. As with last year, there's likely no true black option. Weibo leaker Fixed Focus Digital recently warned the new colors could be prone to the same chipping and surface issues seen on last year's Cosmic Orange and Dark Blue, which Apple reportedly treats as a material characteristic rather than a defect.\n\nThe iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are expected to launch in September alongside Apple's first foldable iPhone, the \"iPhone Ultra.\" Shipping could slip slightly later for the foldable. A Chinese leaker recently said any gap would be at most a month, and _Bloomberg_ 's Mark Gurman has reported the device remains on track for September, after Barclays analyst Tim Long earlier suggested shipments could slip to December. The foldable is expected to feature a 7.8-inch inner display, 5.5-inch cover display, the A20 chip and C2 modem, Touch ID instead of Face ID, two rear cameras, and a starting price of at least $2,000.\n\nGurman recently reported that the Apple Watch Ultra 4 and Apple Watch Series 12 will launch alongside the new iPhones. Little is known about the devices, though a faster chip seems highly likely given that both the Series 11 and Ultra 3 stuck with the S10 from the previous year. watchOS 27 will likely add new watch faces, including a variant of the Modular Ultra face.\n\nFor 2027, Apple is developing camera-equipped AirPods. The cameras, embedded in the AirPods' stems, are not designed for taking photos or video, and will instead feed information about the wearer's surroundings to Siri, which will be able to answer questions about objects and whatever the wearer is looking at, alongside contextual reminders and improved turn-by-turn directions. An included light will indicate to people nearby when the cameras are active. The AirPods were originally targeted for a 2026 launch, but Apple's broader AI struggles and the need to develop reliable object-identification models apparently pushed the timeline back.\n\nThe MacRumors Show has its own YouTube channel, so make sure you're subscribed to keep up with new episodes and clips.\n\n\n\nSubscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel!\n\n\n\nYou can also listen to The MacRumors Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or other podcast apps. You can also copy our RSS feed directly into your player.\n\n\n\n\n\nIf you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up to hear our further discussion about WWDC 2026 and iOS 27, macOS Golden Gate, and Apple's other new software updates coming this fall.\n\nSubscribe to The MacRumors Show for new episodes every week, where we discuss some of the topical news breaking here on _MacRumors_ , often joined by interesting guests such as Kayci Lacob, Kevin Nether, John Gruber, Mark Gurman, Jon Prosser, Luke Miani, Matthew Cassinelli, Brian Tong, Quinn Nelson, Jared Nelson, Eli Hodapp, Mike Bell, Sara Dietschy, iJustine, Jon Rettinger, Andru Edwards, Arnold Kim, Ben Sullins, Marcus Kane, Christopher Lawley, Frank McShan, David Lewis, Tyler Stalman, Sam Kohl, Federico Viticci, Thomas Frank, Jonathan Morrison, Ross Young, Ian Zelbo, and Rene Ritchie.\n\nThe MacRumors Show is on X @MacRumorsShow, so be sure to give us a follow to keep up with the podcast. You can also email us at **podcast@macrumors.com** or head over to The MacRumors Show forum thread. Remember to rate and review the podcast, and let us know what subjects and guests you would like to see in the future.\n\nRelated Roundup: iPhone 18 Pro\n\nTag: The MacRumors Show\n\n\nThis article, \"The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Has a Pricing Problem\" first appeared on MacRumors.com\n\nDiscuss this article in our forums\n\n",
"title": "The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Has a Pricing Problem"
}