Apple might increase the iPhone 17 lineup prices without blaming Trump’s tariffs or revealing the true reason to avoid political confrontation.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that the Cupertino tech giant could increase prices of this year’s models in the iPhone 17 lineup, including a new, slimmer model, to cancel out the impact of Trump’s tariffs. It would reportedly justify the move by underscoring new features and talking about design changes.
“Apple is weighing price increases for its fall iPhone lineup, a step it is seeking to couple with new features and design changes, according to people familiar with the matter,” it said. “The people familiar with the supply chain said Apple would have trouble making up for China tariff costs solely by seeking further savings from its suppliers, meaning a hit to its profit margin was likely unless it could raise prices.”
Apple could increase the iPhone 17 lineup prices
But Apple could avoid increasing prices; the United States and China just temporarily lowered their respective tariffs to start trade negotiations. Tariffs could hurt companies like Apple, which assemble most of the products in China and import them into the United States. That said, I’m expeting Apple to proceed with this plan.
The report states that the California tech giant is determined to avoid the perception that it blames price increases on Trump’s tariffs on goods from China. Despite temporarily lowering tariffs, the US administration has left the 20 percent tariff imposed in March in place, which applies to smartphone imports.
Tim Cook said on a recent conference call with Wall Street analysts and investors that the 20 percent tariff accounted for the nearly $900 million in additional cost that Apple swallowed instead of passing it to the consumer in the form of higher prices.
“The people familiar with the supply chain said Apple would have trouble making up for China tariff costs solely by seeking further savings from its suppliers, meaning that a hit to its profit margin was likely unless it could raise prices,” reads the article. Apple really hates to sacrifice its margins, so higher iPhone prices are likely in order.
Tim Cook fears retribution from Trump
Tim Cook prudently chose to avoid political confrontation that could get his company in trouble. He should look no further than Amazon, which recently wanted to break down pricing on its web store to basically blame price increases on tariffs. After the White House objected, calling the move “a hostile act,” company founder Jeff Bezos said it was just an idea that “was never approved and is not going to happen.”
Apple has been attempting to diversify its supply chain to reduce dependency on China for years now, and the results have not been great. Some iPhones are now manufactured in India and imported into the United States, but there are still too many Chinese-made iPhones for alternative manufacturing hubs to make a material difference. For example, India accounted for around fourteen percent of global iPhone shipments in 2024.
