According to reports, Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro series may set a new benchmark for iPhone Pro functionality; however, its price is expected to remain within the range of its predecessors. Apple is reportedly planning to absorb soaring memory costs – the driving force behind rising smartphone prices – and avoid passing them on to consumers. In turn, the brand can price its most ambitious collections more aggressively.
iPhone 18 Pro pricing likely to remain unchanged despite rising memory costs
Going back in time, Micron has reportedly stopped consumer memory sales in December 2025 as the company focuses on meeting the growing demand for memory and storage in artificial intelligence data centers. According to reports, even two other memory manufacturers, Samsung and SK Hynix, signed a letter of intent with OpenAI in April 2026 to supply 900,000 DRAM wafers per month, accounting for 40% of global supply. The deal prompted Samsung to increase DRAM prices by 100% and prompted SK Hynix to cut consumer memory production. It is worth noting that these three companies together account for 90% of the total DRAM supply. Additionally, Apple reportedly agreed to increase the price of Samsung’s LPDDR5X RAM by 100%.
Despite mounting pressure, MacRumors reports that the Cupertino tech giant may price the iPhone 18 Pro at $1,099 ( $Approximately $105,000), iPhone 18 Pro Max may start at $1,199 ( $There are approximately 115,000 people in the global market. If so, the pricing of the new iPhone Pro series may remain consistent with the iPhone 17 Pro series.
Apple iPhone 18 Pro could get its biggest hardware upgrade in years
Interestingly, Apple’s efforts to maintain pricing stability may not come at the expense of hardware upgrades for the new iPhone 18 Pro series. Leaks suggest that the iPhone 18 Pro series will retain the rear camera “plateau,” but its camera setup is expected to receive significant tweaks. According to Digital Chat Station, a well-known Weibo leaker, the iPhone Pro may feature a variable aperture camera, similar to how lenses on DSLR and mirrorless cameras work. This will give users more granular control over depth of field and exposure. Samsung previously demonstrated this technology on the 2018 Samsung Galaxy S9, allowing users to switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4 apertures via a mechanical dual-aperture lens system. In addition to this, the telephoto lens of the iPhone 18 Pro series is speculated to have a faster aperture, allowing for better-exposed low-light images.
In terms of internal hardware, the iPhone 18 Pro series is likely to be equipped with the upcoming A20 processor. The chip is said to use a wafer-level multi-chip module (WMCM) design that integrates RAM directly with the CPU, GPU and neural engine to improve efficiency and performance. The iPhone 18 Pro series is rumored to be equipped with Apple’s next-generation C2 modem, which may improve overall wireless performance. Additionally, The Information claims that Apple is working on broader satellite network support, potentially allowing future iPhones to handle satellite-based communications beyond just emergency functions and messaging.
Even the dynamic island on the iPhone 18 Pro series has not fallen behind in upgrades. Some leaks suggest that these upcoming Pro models will feature a hole-punch camera in the top left corner with under-display Face ID. In contrast, another faction, notably Mark Gurman and Ice Universe, speculated that the iPhone 18 Pro would feature a much smaller dynamic island.
Battery upgrades are also expected to be part of the plan. According to reports, the battery capacity of iPhone 18 Pro models may exceed 5,000mAh, while the eSIM-only model is said to have a slightly larger capacity due to extra internal space.
