iPhone 18 Pro Max may increase in price because of expensive memory chips
(Dan Tri) - The scarcity of memory chips causes smartphone manufacturers to spend more money, and Apple is no exception. This could even cause the price of iPhone 18 Pro Max to continue to increase.
Companies operating in the fields of AI and cloud computing have been reserving memory chip supplies for many years. Analyst firm TrendForce said the DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production capacity of Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron is fully booked until the end of 2027.
In Vietnam, the price of iPhone 18 Pro Max is 4 million VND higher than the iPhone 17 Pro Max (Photo: Doan Thuy).
This makes the global supply of memory chips scarce. Accordingly, consumer device manufacturers like Apple are forced to compete for the remaining portion of the supply. The selling price of components has also increased since then.
According to DigiTimes, Apple has just reached an agreement with Samsung to ensure memory chip supply for the first quarter of next year. This deal focuses on RAM and storage, components found in most Apple products.
This source said that the component costs that Apple must pay in the first quarter of 2027 will increase by 30-40% compared to the third quarter of 2026. Most likely, this increased cost could push up the prices of iPhone, iPad and Mac lines next year.
Apple is said to have secured enough memory chip supply for the fourth quarter. Therefore, the company will not adjust product prices until the end of this year. However, the real cost impacts are expected to begin when Samsung's new component prices take effect next year.
In fact, Apple has increased the price of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max product lines by $100 compared to their predecessors. In the Vietnamese market, the price of the standard version of iPhone 18 Pro Max increased by 4 million VND compared to the iPhone 17 Pro Max at the time of sale.
The scarce supply of memory chips causes component prices to increase (Photo: Doan Thuy).
Not stopping there, the company also adjusted the selling prices of a series of older iPhone models. In previous years, the price of older iPhones was adjusted downward every time a new iPhone was released. However, this year Apple increased prices for these products.
Specifically, iPhone 16 is offered by Apple at a price of 25 million VND for the 128GB version. This price is even 2 million VND higher than the listed price of iPhone 16 at the time of launch in September 2024.
Similarly, the prices of iPhone 17 and iPhone 17e simultaneously increased by 4 million VND, to 29 million VND and 22 million VND for the 256GB version. iPhone Air price also increased to 35 million VND, 3 million VND higher than the product's listed price when launched in September 2025.