How Apple could quietly raise the iPhone prices this fall without blaming tariffs

If you’re planning to upgrade your iPhone this fall, you may need to prepare to pay more — even if the sticker price doesn’t change.

The newest iPhones might come with a more expensive price tag this fall — even if the sticker price doesn’t change. Some analysts expect Apple to raise iPhone prices for its new lineup because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. And the company is considering as much, according to a Wall Street Journal report Monday. That could result in a rare price increase for Apple’s most important product. But hiking prices because of tariffs risks drawing Trump’s ire — something at least one other tech company has already learned the hard way. So, Apple may try to link those higher prices to new AI features or fresh hardware, or charge extra for additions like increased storage instead of raising the amount consumers will see on the price tag, analysts say. Apple is also expected to release a slimmer new version of the iPhone this year, a move that could give it a chance to adjust how it prices its full line-up of devices. At the same time, the barrier to entry for a new iPhone is higher than ever now that Apple has replaced the budget iPhone SE with the pricier iPhone 16e. “When we say price increases, we don’t mean like-for-like pricing increases necessarily. We don’t necessarily mean that iPhone 17 will be more expensive than the equivalent iPhone 16,” said Gil Luria, head of technology research at investment group D.A. Davidson. “There’s several ways Apple can increase prices.”