President Donald Trump desires Apple to fabricate the iPhone, its bestselling product, right here within the US. And final week he threatened to put a 25% tariff on the telephone if the corporate would not make that occur.
“I’ve way back knowledgeable Tim Cook dinner of Apple that I anticipate their iPhone’s that shall be bought in the US of America shall be manufactured and inbuilt the US, not India, or anyplace else,” Trump posted on Fact Social. “If that isn’t the case, a tariff of not less than 25% should be paid by Apple to the US.” Trump added later that the tariff would apply to any smartphone made outdoors the US.
Since what Trump touted as “Liberation Day,” the potential impact of tariffs on the iPhone’s value has been widely discussed. Apple is the third-largest firm within the US, and most of its merchandise are manufactured in China. Clearly, the iPhone’s ubiquity has made it a logo for the continued uncertainty of the US economic system and politics.
Regardless of tariffs and politics, iPhone costs have remained the identical thus far this yr. However the launch of the rumored iPhone 17 this fall will possible include a better value it doesn’t matter what Trump says. Apple is contemplating a value enhance and will attribute the rise to new and up to date options as a substitute of tariffs, The Wall Street Journal reports. And I agree.
From left: the iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Professional and 16 Professional Max. No matter all the pieces that is occurred in 2025, the worth of the telephones has remained the identical.
The iPhone hasn’t had a value hike in 5 years and is due for one. Traditionally, that is the longest stretch of time the corporate has gone with out a rise because the 5 years between the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 7, which ended with the iPhone 8 launching at a better value. We will study quite a bit by taking a look at how the corporate has dealt with earlier value hikes (and a one-time drop) and what meaning for the iPhone 17.
To determine how possible we’re for a value hike, I grouped iPhone fashions into a couple of classes: the usual, the flagships and the behemoths. The usual consists of fashions like the unique iPhone, the iPhone 8, the iPhone XR and the iPhone 16. The flagships embody variants just like the iPhone X, iPhone 11 Professional and iPhone 16 Professional. And the behemoths designation is for telephones just like the iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone XS Max and iPhone 16 Professional Max. There are different variations that Apple bought, just like the iPhone 5C, the SE collection, the iPhone Mini line and the present iPhone Plus line, that do not issue into this evaluation. Additionally, I take advantage of the US beginning value for every iPhone earlier than any provider reductions are utilized. Let’s dive in.
Customary iPhone costs
The iPhone 16 launched in 2025 with a beginning value of $829, the identical because the iPhone 12 did in 2020.
Since its debut in 2007, the usual iPhone has had 4 value will increase and one correction. Many of us may bear in mind paying $199 for the original iPhone, however in actuality, the telephone value $499 off-contract. In 2008, Apple raised the worth $100 with the launch of the iPhone 3G, to $599, the place it will keep for 4 years. Then in 2012, the iPhone 5 was launched with a taller, 4-inch display screen and a better, $649 price ticket.
Quick-forward to 2017, the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, and the iPhone 8 debuted at a price of $699, a $50 enhance. Yearly between 2017 and 2019, the worth for the usual iPhone modified. In 2018, the iPhone XR launched at $749. The next yr, the iPhone 11 got here out, and the worth dropped again to $699. And what makes that drop fascinating is that the iPhone 11 was the primary normal Apple telephone with two rear cameras: a wide-angle and ultrawide. Up until then, all different normal iPhone fashions had solely a single rear digital camera. From 2007 to 2019, when Apple elevated costs it was in $50 increments, besides between the primary and second iPhone fashions.
Then 2020 occurred. It was a wild yr for the iPhone, and everybody, due to the pandemic. However Apple managed to launch the iPhone 12, which value $829, marking the biggest enhance for the usual iPhone: $130. Subsequent fashions all had the identical value: The iPhone 13, 14, 15 and 16 all value $829.
If Apple follows its earlier sample, then the usual iPhone is due for a value enhance. The final elevate was in 2020, 5 years in the past, and Apple has by no means gone six years with out a value hike on the usual mannequin. However will the corporate slowly elevate the worth over a couple of years prefer it did between the iPhone 7, 8 and XR? Or will it go all in prefer it did with the iPhone 12?
The usual iPhone is Apple’s hottest, and it is protected to anticipate that the iPhone 17 will value extra (and would’ve even when Trump hadn’t been elected). Now we simply have to surprise how a lot tariffs and politics may drive the worth up much more.
The flagship: iPhone Professional mannequin costs
The iPhone 16 Professional got here out in 2024 with a beginning value of $999, the identical because the 2017 iPhone X.
Apple hasn’t at all times had an iPhone Professional variant, but it surely did beginning in 2017 with the launch of the iPhone X, which had a beginning value of $999. The telephone debuted subsequent to the $699 iPhone 8, making the 8’s $50 enhance seem to be nothing.
However here is the place issues get fascinating. Apple has by no means raised the worth on the iPhone Professional mannequin. The iPhone X, XS, 11 Pro, 12 Pro, 13 Pro, 14 Pro, 15 Pro and 16 Pro all value $999. That is eight years with out a value enhance!
What’s much more surprising is if you right for inflation: the 2017 iPhone X’s $999 value can be $1,298 in 2025, in response to the Consumer Price Index Inflation calculator. The iPhone Professional is overdue for a value hike, and I anticipate the iPhone 17 Pro to value extra.
The behemoths: iPhone Plus, Max and Professional Max costs
The iPhone 16 Professional (left) and iPhone 16 Professional Max.
Since 2014, Apple has bought a giant model of the iPhone. A few of these had been nothing greater than a bigger model of the usual iPhone with a much bigger display screen and battery in addition to some minor variations, just like the iPhone 6 Plus having optical picture stabilization on its digital camera whereas the iPhone 6 did not. However starting with the iPhone 7 Plus, the bigger model began having “professional” options, like a second rear digital camera and portrait mode.
By way of pricing, the iPhone 6 Plus debuted at $749, which was $100 greater than the iPhone 6. And that $749 value caught round for the iPhone 6S Plus and seven Plus. In 2017, Apple had three iPhone fashions: the $699 iPhone 8, the $749 iPhone 8 Plus (a $50 enhance from the 7 Plus) and the $999 iPhone X.
In 2018, Apple launched the $1,099 iPhone XS Max, which I take into account the true successor to the preliminary iPhone Plus line. Meaning the large iPhone obtained a $350 enhance in a single yr, the biggest Apple has ever made. I admit some individuals won’t assume the XS Max is a follow-up to the Plus and would deem it a wholly new iPhone variant. However that is my commentary.
Just like the iPhone Professional, the Max and Professional Max would have the identical value for years. In 2023, Apple raised the barrier of entry for the Professional Max mannequin and did not provide a $1,099 model of the iPhone 15 Professional Max with 128GB of storage. As a substitute, you needed to pay $1,199 for the 256GB variant, which technically value the identical because the iPhone 14 Professional Max with 256GB of storage.
The iPhone 17 and 17 Professional’s costs
Nobody is aware of how a lot the rumored iPhone 17 will value, besides Apple.
Even with out tariffs, it is protected to imagine that the iPhone 17 lineup’s prices shall be larger for some fashions. However if you consider all the pieces that is occurred this yr, it is onerous to gauge simply how a lot the worth will go up and whether or not that’ll have an effect on only one or two fashions, or apply throughout your complete iPhone 17 line.
Earlier this yr, Apple raised the worth on its most inexpensive mannequin. Although it lacks the SE branding of the earlier low-cost iPhone, the iPhone 16E got here with a $599 price ticket, $170 greater than the $429 iPhone SE (2022).
Apple would not discuss unreleased merchandise or their costs. However we do have an unusual-for-Apple clue as to how these tariffs might have an effect on the corporate.
“Assuming the present international tariff charges, insurance policies, and functions don’t change for the steadiness of the quarter and no new tariffs are added, we estimate the affect so as to add $900 million to our prices,” Apple CEO Tim Cook dinner stated throughout a quarterly earnings call on Could 1.
Clearly, that $900 million quantity wasn’t only for the iPhone, however for all Apple merchandise. And that was three weeks earlier than Trump threatened one other tariff aimed purely on the iPhone. However $900 million is quite a bit for any firm to swallow, and ultimately that added value will should be made up for. That normally means larger costs, even when Apple is pressured by Trump to attribute the rise to “new designs and options.”
If there’s one factor for sure, we’ll know precisely what these costs shall be when Apple launches the following technology of iPhone fashions at its September occasion.
Apple did not reply to a request for remark.
