Apple quietly raised the prices of four existing iPhone models on September 9, 2026, using its iPhone 18 Pro launch event as cover for $100 increases across the iPhone 16, iPhone 17, iPhone 17e, and iPhone Air.
The updated prices now sit at $799 for the iPhone 16, $699 for the iPhone 17e, $899 for the iPhone 17, and $1,099 for the iPhone Air.
These models are already on the market, not newly announced hardware, making the move unusual for Apple, which has historically kept prices on existing iPhones steady after launch.
A price hike tied to chip shortages
Apple CEO Tim Cook telegraphed the increases in June, telling The Wall Street Journal that Apple could no longer absorb the rising cost of memory and storage chips.
The shortage, Cook said, stems from surging demand driven by AI and neocloud companies racing to expand data center capacity.
“I’ve never seen anything like it in any area in over 40 years,” Cook said, comparing the memory shortage to a hundred-year flood.
That AI infrastructure buildout has created supply constraints across the semiconductor industry.
While the tech industry continues to debate if massive data center investments will pay off, the financial impact has already hit consumers. Rising infrastructure costs are now directly driving up prices for new iPhone models.
What this means if you’re shopping now
For anyone considering a non-Pro iPhone, the calculus has shifted. The iPhone 16, which launched at $799 two years ago and held that price through an entire product cycle, now costs the same as it did on day one, despite being two generations old.
Buyers waiting for a deal on older models will not find one at Apple’s online store.
Apple simultaneously discontinued the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, replacing them with the newly announced iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
A standard iPhone 18 isn’t expected until spring 2027, which means the price-adjusted iPhone 17 lineup now represents Apple’s entry point for buyers who don’t want to pay Pro pricing.
The iPhone Air, positioned as Apple’s premium thin-design option and already the most expensive non-Pro iPhone at $999 before today, now starts at $1,099, putting it within range of the iPhone 18 Pro’s expected starting price.
