The real reason your phone is getting more expensive

The real reason your phone is getting more expensive. TechAppleiPhoneThe real reason your phone is getting more expensiveSoaring RAM costs are driving up prices across the tech industry.

What happened

It may take years to settle down. by Rani MollaSep 7, 2026, 12:00 PM UTC Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The VergeTechAppleiPhoneThe real reason your phone is getting more expensiveSoaring RAM costs are driving up prices across the tech industry. Counterpoint and IDC are already seeing smartphone companies reduce expected shipments while shifting toward more expensive models. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The GuardianReviewPixel 11 review: Google sets the bar for standard flagship phonesLonger battery life, faster chip, actually useful AI tools and better cameras keep quality Android ahead of competitionGoogle’s Pixel 11 continues to set the standard for what you should expect from the base model of a flagship phone with class-leading cameras, long software support and almost all the bells and whistles of its most expensive phones.

But this middle-ground model offers more than enough to beat the competition and question whether you really need to spend more on a Pro phone. When Apple debuts the next generation of iPhones this week, they're likely to come with an unwanted change: a higher price tag. A price hike from the supply-chain powerhouse would be the clearest sign yet that soaring memory costs have become unavoidable – with no end to the memory crunch in sight. Call it "chipflation" […]

It may take years to settle down. by Rani MollaSep 7, 2026, 12:00 PM UTCPart OfRAM price hikes: the latest on the global memory shortagesee all updates When Apple debuts the next generation of iPhones this week, they’re likely to come with an unwanted change: a higher price tag. Call it “chipflation” or “RAMageddon. ” The shortage is reversing a decades-long decline in memory costs that helped make consumer electronics more powerful without making them dramatically more expensive.

The wider picture

The common wisdom is that AI is at fault: The technology isn’t just contributing to higher energy prices and layoffs; it’s also helping drive up the cost of everything from smartphones to game consoles. Pandemic-era purchases of computers, tablets, and phones had pulled demand forward; consumer spending weakened, and manufacturers were left with excess inventory. The memory inside your phone or computer broadly falls into two buckets. Rather than guessing how many phones or laptops will sell a year from now, memory makers can lock in multiyear commitments from some of the world’s richest companies.

Phone and PC makers want to run smaller AI models directly on their devices, requiring more sophisticated conventional memory — and more of it. “The three big memory guys, they’re just basically allocating the capacity that they have to these companies. ”Counterpoint estimates that DRAM prices for smartphones increased roughly 56 percent in the first quarter of 2026 compared to a quarter earlier, and grew around 83 percent in the second quarter. For 16GB of DRAM for a smartphone, Counterpoint estimates that it cost roughly $42 in the second quarter of 2025 and about $181 a year later — an increase of more than 300 percent.

Those aren’t necessarily Apple’s prices — few companies have more leverage with suppliers — but the figures show how dramatically the component costs of building a high-end phone have changed.

What has been reported

An iPhone 17 using AI-powered notification alerts. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The VergePC and smartphone makers can’t absorb component costs that have multiplied several times over indefinitely. Or they can focus on more expensive devices with enough profit margin to absorb the added cost. Citing soaring memory costs, Microsoft recently raised Xbox prices by another $100 to $150, leaving some models as much as $300 more expensive than at launch. Rather than releasing its full lineup at once this fall, Apple is expected to introduce the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max alongside its first foldable iPhone, while holding the standard iPhone 18 and refreshed Air until spring 2027, according to Bloomberg.

Tim Cook described memory pricing as a “100-year flood”That leaves Apple’s fall lineup concentrated heavily at the most expensive end of the market — exactly where it has the most room to protect its margins. Counterpoint’s supply-chain tracking shows Apple preparing roughly 10 percent more iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max units for September through December than it allocated to the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max during the same period last year. The iPhone 18 Pro could start at $1,299, according to The Wall Street Journal’s calculation based on estimates from TechInsights that factor in component costs and attempt to minimize margin reductions.

What happens next

That would be $200 more than the iPhone 17 Pro. Samsung and Google have each raised the starting prices of some new phones by $100 this year, though several also come with more storage. Its installed base, tightly integrated ecosystem, and loyal customers make its phones behave more like luxury goods than interchangeable electronics. In places like China, the world’s largest smartphone market, it almost became common sense to opt for a premium iPhone when lower-cost alternatives were selling for nearly as much.

If they can’t sell as many phones, they can at least try to extract more revenue from each one. As a result, revenue for PCs and smartphones could actually remain flat or even rise as unit sales decline. Rani MollaAppleiPhoneTechMore in: RAM price hikes: the latest on the global memory shortageGoogle tells Android app developers to cool it on memory use, or elseAllison JohnsonAug 27Sony Xperia 10 VIII: Same specs, new price.

The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across theverge.com, theguardian.com. Details are presented according to the information available at the time of publication and may change as authorities, organisers or other relevant parties provide updates.