Ahead of the iPhone 17 launch in September, Apple is reportedly contemplating raising prices this year. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple doesn’t want their price hikes to be linked to tariffs, however.
Keep in mind that Apple would be hit pretty hard by tariffs, since the US has levied a pretty large tariff on the US. Currently, it sits at 30%.
By raising prices, this could help Apple cushion the blow of any further tariffs put on China and other countries that Apple uses to manufacture goods. Keep in mind that Apple doesn’t raise prices all that often. In fact, the “Pro” iPhone hasn’t changed in price since the iPhone X debuted, and we’re currently on the iPhone 16.
Every year, analysts predict that Apple will raise prices in the US, and it hasn’t happened. Only the Pro Max has seen a price increase, which wasn’t really an increase, since Apple simply eliminated the 128GB model and now starts at 256GB.
A big reason for not raising prices is, the carrier deals in the US. By keeping the same price year after year after year, it makes it easier for customers to upgrade their phone more often, as their monthly payment remains the same.
Apple could swallow the tariff hike, but it won’t
Apple could completely handle the tariff hike on its own, considering it has over $53 billion in cash right now. But that won’t happen. For a number of reasons, but the big one is, how far will these tariffs go? Despite the US striking a trade deal with China over the weekend, President Trump could still change his mind tomorrow and opt to levy tariffs on China or India again.
So raising prices to combat these tariffs is in Apple’s best interest. Keep in mind that Apple does have a pretty significant profit margin on all of its products.
