Apple Targets Sept. 9 iPhone 18 Pro Pricing With 24-Month Leasing and Services
Updated
Updated · Forbes · Aug 15
Apple Targets Sept. 9 iPhone 18 Pro Pricing With 24-Month Leasing and Services
2 articles · Updated · Forbes · Aug 15
Summary
Sept. 9 is when Apple is set to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, with incoming CEO John Ternus expected to confirm pricing as component and raw-material costs climb.
40% gross margin on the iPhone 17 Pro’s $1,099 256GB model gives Apple some room to cushion this year’s inflation, helped by supplier concessions such as cutting the OLED panel cost to $68 from $110.
24-month Apple Upgrade leasing is central to limiting sticker shock: a roughly $100 increase would translate to just over $4 a month while keeping users on a regular upgrade cycle.
High-margin services are meant to recover more of the economics after the sale, with Apple Music, TV, Arcade and Fitness+ lifting ARPU and iCloud+ likely carrying added AI features behind higher tiers.
AI servers’ demand for memory and storage is squeezing the whole premium smartphone market, but Apple’s control of both iPhone hardware and iOS gives it more ways to spread those costs across its ecosystem.