TrendForce forecasts that prices for the iPhone 18 generation will rise by 10–20% and examines how the burden on Japanese consumers may change compared with previous models with the same storage capacity. The outlook that soaring memory component costs will feed through to retail prices is presented alongside trends in launch prices in Japan.
In information released on 3 September 2026, TrendForce said it expects the bill of materials for the iPhone 18 generation to be approximately 38% higher than before for 256GB Pro models. It explained that memory component costs are likely to increase their share of total costs and could affect prices. Foldable devices are expected to move into a higher price range, although the information currently available is not an official announcement. Price comparisons in the Japanese market require the change in minimum storage capacity and actual price revisions to be assessed separately.
Comparing prices for the past 3 generations in the United States and Japan, the 256GB Pro Max shows a price gap between the two markets, with prices rising in stages in Japan. In particular, the iPhone 17 Pro changed from 128GB to 256GB, and its launch price in Japan rose by approximately ¥20,000. Prices for the Pro Max also increased in the Japanese market, making it important to interpret the impact of standardizing storage capacity as a regional difference.
TrendForce also forecasts that the A20 Pro will use a 2nm process and include a variable-aperture system. A variable aperture is a mechanism for adjusting the amount of light, and achieving both thermal management and imaging performance could pose a challenge. It adds that these developments depend on changes to components and chassis design, and that assessing the performance of the device as a whole will take time.