Citi Says Apple Foldable iPhone Starting Price May Exceed $2,000, iPhone 18 Series Overall Prices Expected to Rise Up to 20%

TradingKey - Apple (AAPL) shares edged slightly lower on Friday as the market awaits the company's new iPhone launch event on September 9. Citi expects the starting price of Apple's first foldable iPhone could exceed $2,000, while TrendForce projects that driven by sharp increases in memory prices, overall prices for the iPhone 18 series could rise by 10% to 20%.

Citi Expects Foldable iPhone Starting Price to Exceed $2,000

Citi analyst Atif Malik noted that Apple is expected to launch its first foldable iPhone during this new product cycle, with the product name possibly being "iPhone Ultra." Citi expects the device's starting price to exceed $2,000.

Currently, Apple has not officially confirmed the product name or specific pricing for the foldable iPhone. TrendForce previously referred to the product tentatively as "iPhone 18 Fold" and estimated its starting price to range between $2,099 and $2,299, with high-end configurations potentially exceeding $3,000.

In addition to the foldable model, Citi expects that the prices of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max may also increase by approximately $200 compared to the previous generation.

In terms of sales volume, Citi projects that Apple will ship 61.8 million iPhone 18 units in the second half of 2026, and expects full-year iPhone shipments to reach 246 million units, representing a year-over-year increase of about 1%.

As for the foldable model, Citi expects Apple to set a production plan of 7.5 million units in the second half of 2026 and produce an additional approximately 4 million units in the first quarter of 2027.

iPhone 18 Prices May Rise 10% to 20% as Memory Costs Increase

TrendForce stated that memory prices entered a strong upward cycle starting in the second half of 2025, posing a significant impact on Apple's new device costs. Taking the 256GB Pro model as an example, memory costs in the third quarter of 2026 surged nearly 400% year-over-year.

Although Apple is striving to control costs by renegotiating with other component suppliers, its overall bill of materials (BOM) cost remains under substantial pressure. Against this backdrop, the likelihood of Apple raising end-user retail prices is increasing.

However, TrendForce believes that with the global macroeconomy remaining weak and consumer spending turning cautious, Apple also needs to expand its market share through pricing strategies. Therefore, the firm expects Apple to adopt a relatively moderate price adjustment mechanism, keeping price increases for the iPhone 18 series between 10% and 20%.