The iPhone 17 series could cost more than the iPhone 16 – and not just because of Trump's tariffs

Apple iPhone 16 Review
The iPhone 16 (Image credit: Future)

  • Apple is reportedly considering a price rise for the iPhone 17 series
  • This would apparently be at least in part due to "new features and design changes"
  • The company is said to be reluctant to blame any increase on tariffs

We haven’t heard much about iPhone 17 series pricing yet, but a new report suggests there could be bad news on that front, with a price rise supposedly being considered by Apple.

This comes from a paywalled Wall Street Journal article (via Pocket Lint), which states that Apple is considering a price increase due to "new features and design changes".

It seems likely that any price rise would at least be in part due to the tariffs the US has imposed on the rest of the world, but according to this report Apple doesn’t want to be seen as blaming the tariffs, so as not to get on the wrong side of the Trump administration. So any increase would instead be attributed to the aforementioned new features and design changes.

That said, it’s likely that the changes to the line would, at least in part, genuinely lead to some increase in price, especially as leaks point to quite a dramatic design overhaul, along with the launch of a new iPhone 17 Air model.

Apple iPhone 16 Plus Review

The iPhone 16 Plus (Image credit: Future)

Price predictions

In any case, going by this report Apple hasn’t yet made any final decisions on pricing, and the report doesn’t speculate how much prices might increase by if they are indeed higher.

For reference, the iPhone 16 starts at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, the iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,849, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149. We’d be surprised if Apple raised those prices by more than about $100 / £100 / AU$150, but at this stage we really can’t be sure.

We should find out the actual prices in September, as that’s when the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Pro, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and likely the rumored iPhone 17 Air are all likely to launch.

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James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.

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