Processor cost could drive prices of the iPhone 18 range up
A new report claims that the manufacturing cost of the 2nm processor expected in the iPhone 18 range may mean Apple having to raise prices.
Render of a possible iPhone 18.
It's bad enough that tariffs may still force Apple to raise prices, and it's bad enough that the expected iPhone Fold will cost over $2,000. Now a further report backs up previous claims that the whole iPhone 18 range may be costlier than its predecessors.
Backing up a report from September 2024, leaker "Digital Chat Station" has now claimed on Weibo that there could be significant price increases for the 2026 iPhone models.
"Next year, Apple/Qualcomm/Mittec will be launched on TSMC 2nm," writes the leaker on Weibo (in translation). "It is expected that the cost will increase significantly, and the price of the new machine may increase again."
The reason is specifically the manufacturing cost of the new 2nm processor. In the September 2024 report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, it was initially said that the costs were high in part because of the low yield of the production process.
Kuo at first claimed that this meant Apple would limit the 2nm processor to the iPhone 18 Pro, and it was conceivable that it would actually only be in the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
However, in March 2025, Kuo revised his prediction because of what he said were greatly improved yields. He said that TSMC had reached 60% to 70% yields by January 2025, and by March were "well above that."
Consequently, Kuo then believed that it was possible Apple would use the 2nm processor across the entire iPhone 18 range. That fit with claims from other analysts, too.
If correct, the benefit of the 2nm processor is that it should provide between a 10% and 15% performance boost over the forthcoming iPhone 17 range. However, if Digital Chat Station is correct, it will also bring an unknown price hike.
Note that Digital Chat Station has a fairly good track record for Apple leaks. Most recently, he or she has been reporting about under-display Face ID for a foldable iPad, and also for the iPhone fold.
Rumor Score: Possible
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Comments
Stop.
The front page says "probably going to make iPhone 18 extremely expensive."
The headline on this page says "could drive prices up."
The first sentence says "may mean Apple having to raise prices."
The click-bait headline is almost surely wrong. If the new processor is "extremely expensive," Apple would only use it for the highest end phone. Nothing is forcing Apple to use a 2nm processor if it's not available at a market-viable price.
There’s no point in saying that things are good enough, because they never are. I remember when it was said that the new IBM 286 computer, with that chip, was all that business needed. Then later, that the single core, because that was what everything was back then, 486 was as fast and anyone needed. We hear people saying this over and again, and they’re always wrong. It’s wrong here as well.
Product developers have to make decisions based on what they know at the time and what they anticipate for the future. Unfortunately they never get it 100% correct. Anyone who's been involved in planning understands the notion of the "cone of uncertainty" that grows wider the further you project into the future. Technical innovation and market uncertainty compounds the cone of uncertainty, meaning you may realize later on that you've pointed your cone in the wrong direction as well.
If we look at historical trends, the nonstop advances and growth in software systems, applications, and customer expectations on the types of products we're talking about have nearly always overtaxed the underlying hardware platform. Buyers who want to "future proof" their hardware purchases tend to maximize the resources they purchase up-front. This may help slow down the obsolescence cycle, but true "future proofing" is more of a goal rather than something that can actually be achieved. When product buyers lament about older products getting slower over time the reasons are not always tied to aging. Some things do slow down as certain components wear out or reach their maximum capacity, but in most cases the larger contributing factor is the fact that they're not running with the same software burden that they had when they purchased the product. Plus, user's expectations change. Once you realize you're waiting 'x' amount of time for something to happen when you know that newer products or versions can complete the same task in one-tenth of that time and bring new features to boot, you'll start feeling the urge to upgrade.
Prices are an entirely different ballgame compared to performance improvements over time. Some things actually get more affordable over time, like TVs, while other products get more expensive. With technology driven products the performance or capacity per dollar tends to increase dramatically over time. But every once in a while someone or some technical constraint throws a monkey wrench into the gears and the performance per dollar can plateau or rise at a slower rate. I cannot think of a case off the top of my head where performance per dollar decreased, at least not in a competitive market.
Note: There are two other choices out there if you’re dissatisfied about the price or the pace, you can get a Microsoft Windows computer or you can pick up an Android device both offer plenty of cheap solutions. Apple because of their position (vertical computer company) has always had to do more than their competition and it does cost more money.
Yields would affect the volume and mix of product they launch but not the price.
2- the battery running down too quickly
3-no high resolution, high power, low light zoom on the telephoto lens
These are all things that are supposed to be improved with the new chipsets being offered by Apple this year and next.
2nm next year should help with cooling and battery life.
New Camera Chips and lenses should help with Telephoto Zoom this year, and hopefully better low light performance with video in Telephoto.
You can never have too much cooling, battery capacity, camera features or display improvements!