Apple Just Killed the Cheap iPhone — and Raised Prices on Every Other One

Quick Answer

This fall, for the first time, Apple launched only Pro iPhones — the affordable iPhone 18 won't arrive until spring 2027 — and raised prices on every existing model by $100 in the US, with matching increases across the UK and the Eurozone. We explain what changed, why Apple did it, and what each option actually costs long-term.

Every price and date below comes from Apple's own pages, its September 9 keynote, or same-day event coverage, listed at the bottom. Where something is analysis rather than confirmed fact, we label it.

What just happened

On September 9, 2026, Apple held its "Surprise and Shine" event — the first keynote of new CEO John Ternus, eight days after he formally took over from Tim Cook on September 1. By the end of the evening, the iPhone lineup had been rewritten.

There is no cheap iPhone this fall. For the first time in the product's history, Apple launched only Pro models: the iPhone 18 Pro at $1,199 and the 18 Pro Max at $1,299 — both up $100 from last year. The affordable base iPhone 18 won't arrive until spring 2027.

The foldable finally arrived. The iPhone Duo opens from a 5.4-inch cover screen into a 7.6-inch inner display — the largest screen ever shipped on an iPhone. It starts at $1,999 and climbs to $3,199 at 2TB. It drops Face ID for a side-button Touch ID, and has no SIM tray at all: eSIM only. It's not the first two-screen phone a major player has tried, either — we lined it up against Microsoft's own attempt from 2020 in our full foldable-phone history piece.

And every older iPhone got more expensive overnight. Apple raised prices on the existing lineup by $100 across the board: iPhone 16 to $799, iPhone 17e to $699, iPhone 17 to $899, iPhone Air to $1,099. We track every move like this in our iOS news section.

The cheap iPhone graveyard — a decade of goodbyes

September 2026 didn't kill the affordable iPhone. It buried it. The funeral started ten years ago, and once you see the timeline, this fall's news stops being surprising and starts looking inevitable.

Read it as one sentence: the entry price of the cheapest new iPhone went from $399 to $699 in ten years — a 75% climb — while the flagship went from $649 to $1,199. The budget tier didn't just shrink; it walked itself up the stairs, one "affordable" model at a time. It's the single most important chart in our Apple coverage, and we'll keep updating it.

Why Apple did it — and what Apple itself already said

Apple didn't spell out the full reasoning on stage, but it wasn't silent beforehand, either. In late June 2026, then-CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that further price increases were "unavoidable," pointing to the rising cost of memory and storage chips — components now in heavy demand from AI data-center buildouts. That's Apple's own explanation for the across-the-board hikes on the 16, 17, 17e and Air. Everything below this line, though, is our analysis: Apple never explained on stage why it skipped a base model entirely.

Reporting around the event points to two practical reasons for that decision. First, pricing psychology: a $1,999 foldable looks less extreme when the cheapest new iPhone on the same slide isn't a $799 model. Second, inventory: stretching the iPhone 17's cycle through the holidays gives stores and carriers time to clear stock before a cheaper iPhone 18 arrives in spring.

The $100 increases on older models work as a quiet nudge: they shrink the gap between "last year's phone" and "this year's Pro," pushing fence-sitters toward the flagships. And there is a third reading, the one the graveyard above suggests: the cheap iPhone has been the least profitable shelf in Apple's store for a decade. Killing it for a season — then bringing it back at an unknown price — is also a test of how much the market will bear.

The math nobody shows you: cost per supported year

Sticker prices hide the real question: what does a phone cost per year you can keep it? Here is our honest rough math — assumptions stated, no pretense of precision.

Label, as promised: those Apple figures assume the historical update pattern continues. But the shape of the answer is robust: a Pixel year of support costs roughly a third of an iPhone 17 year — a comparison Apple's pricing quietly avoids, and one we return to often in our Android news coverage, because it exists precisely because Apple vacated the value tier that the Pixel a-series now owns.

What this means in the US, the UK and the Eurozone

Apple's headline prices are American: $1,199 before any sales tax. Move outside the US and the picture splits in two different directions.

In the UK, Apple kept the same numerals and simply switched the currency symbol — and since a pound buys more than a dollar, UK buyers pay substantially more even after crediting the VAT already folded into that sticker. In the Eurozone the gap is even more visible: Germany, Austria and the Netherlands all list the base 18 Pro somewhere around €1,449–1,499, not a flat €1,199 conversion — the difference comes from local VAT rates (19–21% depending on the country) stacked on top of the currency conversion itself. How people pay differs too: US carrier promotions routinely knock hundreds off for switchers, while Apple's UK 0% finance spreads a Duo over 30 months from about £40 a month — which is how a £1,999 phone quietly becomes a subscription.

The Android side got stronger at exactly this moment

Apple's price floor rising to $699–$899 lands in the same season Android's mainstream is at full strength. The OnePlus 15 pairs the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 with a 7,300 mAh battery — a capacity well beyond anything Apple ships at any price. Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra remains the most complete traditional flagship, and its successor is already taking shape — we rounded up everything reported so far on the Galaxy S27 Ultra. And the Pixel 10a at $499 covers the value tier Apple vacated, backed by Google's 7-year update promise — roughly a third of the price per supported year we calculated above. We follow all of it weekly in Android news and iOS news.

FAQ

Is there really no regular iPhone 18 this year?
Correct — only the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max shipped this fall. The base iPhone 18 is expected in spring 2027.

How much is the foldable iPhone Duo?
It starts at $1,999 for 256GB and reaches $3,199 for 2TB. Pre-orders opened October 16, with availability from October 23.

Does the iPhone Duo have Face ID?
No. With the front camera under the inner display, Apple moved Touch ID to the side button — the same approach as iPad Air and iPad mini.

Why is the iPhone 18 Pro so much more expensive in euros than in dollars?
Mostly VAT. European sticker prices already include sales tax (19–21% depending on the country), while the US price doesn't. Add the currency conversion on top, and a $1,199 phone becomes roughly €1,449–1,499 instead of a flat €1,199.

Why did the iPhone mini fail?
Apple never published sales numbers, but the mini line was dropped after two generations (2020–2021); the market read it as demand too small to justify a third year. Its spiritual successor is the e-series — now $699.

Should I buy an iPhone 17 now?
If you need a phone today, it remains strong — but at $899 it just got $100 more expensive for the same hardware. If you can wait until spring 2027, the base iPhone 18 or holiday discounts are the smarter move.

Key takeaways

• Apple shipped only Pro iPhones this fall — the first time in iPhone history there is no new affordable model for the holidays.
• The cheap iPhone has been retiring for a decade: $399 (2016) to $699 (2026), a 75% climb at the entry door.
• Every existing iPhone got a $100 increase the same day — and then-CEO Tim Cook had already called further hikes "unavoidable" back in June.
• UK buyers pay the same digits in pounds; Eurozone buyers pay noticeably more than a straight conversion, mostly because of VAT.
• Honest math: a Pixel 10a year of support costs roughly a third of an iPhone 17 year.
• If you must buy now: 18 Pro at $1,199 / £1,199 / from ~€1,449. If you can wait: spring 2027 or holiday discounts.

Sources

1. Apple — iPhone 18 Pro official page
2. Apple — iPhone Duo official page
3. Apple Newsroom — Tim Cook to become Executive Chairman, John Ternus to become CEO
4. Engadget — Apple event 2026 live blog
5. MacRumors — Apple raises prices of iPhone 16, 17, Air, and 17e
6. 9to5Mac — iPhone 17, Air and 17e just got more expensive
7. Thurrott — Apple announces iPhone 16e starting at $599 (Feb 2025)
8. iPhoned.nl — iPhone 18 Pro (Max) official Eurozone prices
9. durchblicker.at — iPhone 18 Pro Austria pricing
10. idealo — iPhone 18: prices & release (UK pricing)

All prices reflect Apple's official listings as of publish date and may vary by retailer, carrier promotion, or trade-in offer.