iPhone 18 Series Faces 38% Margin Squeeze as Memory Costs Soar

Apple's iPhone 18 series may face a significant margin squeeze due to rising memory costs. TrendForce estimates that the bill of materials for the 256GB iPhone 18 Pro could increase by approximately 38% compared to its predecessor, launched in 2025.

This surge in costs is largely driven by soaring memory prices, which are expected to continue rising through 2027. As a result, Apple may need to make a difficult decision: absorb the increase through lower margins or risk slowing demand with higher handset prices.

TrendForce believes that Apple could follow its recent MacBook pricing strategy and sacrifice some hardware margin rather than pass on the full cost increase to customers. However, this approach would put greater pressure on profitability if memory inflation persists.