iPhone 18 Pro Costing Apple 38% More to Make, TrendForce Estimates - MacRumors
Market research firm TrendForce predicts that the iPhone 18 Pro will cost 38% more to manufacture due to rising memory prices. Apple is expected to pass these costs to consumers or adjust its product strategy to maintain margins.
Why it matters
Rising component costs for flagship devices signal broader inflationary pressures in the consumer electronics supply chain.
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro will cost nearly 40 percent more to build than its predecessor because of soaring memory prices, according to new data analyzed TrendForce .
The research firm's latest smartphone analysis puts the bill of materials for the 256GB iPhone 18 Pro roughly 38 percent above the equivalent iPhone 17 Pro, and says higher retail prices will be unavoidable as a result.
Memory is said to have accounted for about 10 percent of the 256GB iPhone Pro's total component cost a year ago. TrendForce estimates that figure at roughly 34 percent in the third quarter of 2026, rising past 40 percent in the first half of 2027. Panel and application processor costs, once the two biggest line items, drop to single-digit percentages by that point, given memory has taken up so much of the overall cost.
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