Apple just did something it almost never does: it made last year’s phones more expensive. Not cheaper. More expensive. Right after launching new ones.
According to Gizmochina, Apple added $100 to the price of four models still in its active lineup. The iPhone 17 now starts at $899, the iPhone Air sits at $1,099, the iPhone 17e climbs to $699, and the 128GB iPhone 16 hits $799. These new prices are live everywhere Apple still sells these devices. In India, the iPhone 17 starts at ?99,900, the Air at ?1,49,900, the 17e at ?79,900, and the iPhone 16 at ?89,900.
The usual Apple move is the opposite of this. When new iPhones drop, older models get a price cut and stay in the lineup as the more affordable options. That’s been the pattern for years. So when Apple does the reverse, right at the moment it’s also launching the iPhone 18 Pro series and the new foldable iPhone Duo, it’s worth paying attention to why.
The short answer is memory chips. There’s a shortage, and AI data centers are eating up supply faster than manufacturers can scale production. That’s pushing component costs up across the board, and Apple has already passed those costs on to customers buying Macs, iPads, and HomePods. The iPhone lineup is just the latest to feel it. This isn’t Apple being greedy in isolation. It’s a supply chain problem showing up as a higher price tag on your phone.
Still, the timing stings. Apple pulled the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max from its direct sales lineup when the iPhone 18 Pro arrived, which means the remaining older models aren’t exactly premium options anymore. They’re the budget tier now, and Apple just made the budget tier less affordable. That’s a tough sell, especially in markets like India where price sensitivity is high and every rupee counts.
For buyers looking at these models, here’s where things stand right now:
- iPhone 17: $899 in the US, ?99,900 in India
- iPhone Air: $1,099 in the US, ?1,49,900 in India
- iPhone 17e: $699 in the US, ?79,900 in India
- iPhone 16 (128GB): $799 in the US, ?89,900 in India
Carrier deals and trade-in offers can take some of the edge off, and they probably will for a lot of buyers. But the list prices going up is the headline here, because list prices set the baseline for everything else. Discounts and trade-ins get calculated from that number.
The bigger picture is that component cost pressure is real and it’s not going away soon. AI infrastructure buildout is only accelerating, which means demand for high-performance memory chips is going to stay elevated. Smartphone makers across the industry are navigating the same squeeze. Apple is just the most visible example right now because of how dramatically this breaks from its own history. If you were waiting for iPhone prices to come down, this is a clear signal: that’s not the direction things are moving.