Apple is expected to raise prices on its upcoming iPhone 18 Pro lineup as a global memory chip shortage, fueled by soaring demand for artificial intelligence hardware, drives up the company's manufacturing costs, according to a new analysis from market research firm Counterpoint Research.

The bill of materials for the iPhone 18 Pro Max, measured on the model with 12GB of memory and 1TB of storage, is expected to rise by nearly $300 compared with its predecessor, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, according to Counterpoint's estimate. The vast majority of that increase stems directly from memory. NAND flash storage costs alone are projected to exceed $250 per unit on the 1TB model, a figure Counterpoint noted would be enough to cover roughly half of the iPhone 17 Pro Max's entire estimated component cost. DRAM pricing has climbed just as sharply, with both memory types facing pressure from a broader chip shortage tied to surging global demand for AI infrastructure.

Research firm TechInsights has offered even more specific figures illustrating the scale of the increase. The 12-gigabyte DRAM package that cost Apple approximately $39 in the iPhone 17 Pro is now projected to cost around $145 in the iPhone 18 Pro, a jump of roughly 272% for the same quantity of the same type of chip. Storage costs have followed a similar trajectory, with the 256-gigabyte NAND flash tier that cost Apple roughly $13 per unit last year now projected to cost approximately $51.

Apple's expected shift to a new 2-nanometer chip is described as the second-largest contributor to the overall cost increase, behind memory. The iPhone 18 Pro is rumored to debut the A20 Pro processor, manufactured using TSMC's N2 process, which reportedly carries a significant premium in wafer pricing over the N3P node used in........

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