Donald Trump wants Apple to start producing the phone, its most popular item, here in the US. And last week he threatened to place a 25 % tax on the phone if the business doesn’t make that happen.
Trump posted on Truth Social,” I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones to be produced and built in the United States, not in India, or anywhere else,” Trump said. If that is not the case, Apple may pay a price of at least 25 % to the US. Trump added after that the tax would use to any , smartphone , made outside the US.
The potential impact of , tariffs , on the iPhone’s value has been extensively discussed since Trump hailed it as” <a href="https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/tariffs-explained-ive-got-everything-you-need-to-know-as-walmart-subaru-hikes-prices/” target=”_self”>Liberation Day.” Apple is the third-largest business in the US, and the majority of its goods are produced in China. Obviously, the iPhone’s accessibility has made it a symbol for the continued doubt of the US economy and politics.
phone costs haven’t changed much this year despite taxes and politics. No matter what Trump says, the rumored phone 17 ’s release in the fall may probably come with a higher rate. Apple is considering a rate increase and may feature the rise to new and updated attributes instead of taxes, The Wall Street Journal information. I concur, too.
The phone is expected for a price increase after not having had one in five years. Generally, that’s the longest stretch of time the business has gone without an boost since the five decades between the phone 5 and the phone 7, which ended with the phone 8 starting at a higher price. Looking at how the company has handled earlier price increases ( and a one-time drop ) and what that means for the iPhone 17 can teach us a lot.  ,
To figure out how good we are for a price trek, I grouped phone types into a few classes: the conventional, the specs and the behemoths. Versions like the phone 8 and phone 16 are included in the normal, which also includes the iPhone 16. The specs come in models like the phone X, phone 11 Pro, and phone 16 Pro. And the goliaths classification is for devices like the phone 6 Plus, phone XS Max and the 16 Pro Max. Another phone models that Apple released, such as the SE line, the Mini line, and the most recent iPhone Plus line, don’t take into account. I use the US starting cost for each phone before any ship deals are applied, too. This swim in.
Regular iPhone prices
The common iPhone has seen four rate increases and one adjustment since its debut in 2007. Although many people may recall paying$ 199 for the original iPhone, the phone actually cost$ 499 on-contract. In 2008, Apple raised the price$ 100 with the launch of the iPhone 3G, to$ 599, where it would stay for four years. The phone 5  was finally released in 2012 with a larger, 4-inch display and a higher,$ 649 cost tag.
Fast forward to 2017, the year the phone 8 was released, which increased$ 50 from the previous year’s 10th celebration. Every time between 2017 and 2019, the price for the normal phone changed. The iPhone Er was released in 2018 for$ 749. The price of the iPhone 11 dropped to$ 699 the following year. And what makes that cut fascinating is that the phone 11 was the first regular Apple smartphone with two back devices: a wide-angle and ultrawide. All other standard iPhone models up until that point had just a single back cameras. Prices increased by$ 50 intervals between 2007 and 2019, but only between the first and second phone models.
Therefore 2020 happened. Due to the crisis, it was a crazy time for everyone but especially the phone. However, Apple was able to release the iPhone 12, which increased by$ 130 from the regular iPhone, to$ 829, making it the biggest price increase. Later models all had the same amount: The phone 13, 14, 15 and 16 all cost$ 829.
The price of the standard iPhone will improve if Apple continues to value it in line with its past model. Five years ago, in 2020, Apple received a rate increase for the regular type, but never in six years. But will the company gradually raise the price over a few years like it did between the phone 7, 8 and XR? Or will it completely infuse itself, as it did with the phone 12?
The most popular iPhone from Apple is the iPhone 17, so it’s reasonable to assume that the iPhone 17 would have cost more ( and probably even if Trump weren’t elected ). Then we just need to know how many tariffs and politicians may drive the price up even more.
The phone Pro model’s premier design costs
Apple hasn’t always had an iPhone Pro variant, but it did starting in 2017 with the launch of the iPhone X, which had a starting price of$ 999. The iPhone 8’s$ 50 increase appears to be unrelated, so the phone debuted next to the$ 699 iPhone 8 immediately.
But this is where things start to get exciting. Apple has not raised the price on the phone Pro type. The price of the iPhone X, XS, 11 Pro, 12 Pro, 13 Pro, 14 Pro, 15 Pro, and 16 Pro is$ 999. Eight times without cost increases, that’s it!
What’s even more shocking is when you correct for inflation: the 2017 iPhone X’s$ 999 price would be$ 1, 298 in 2025, according to the Consumer Price Index Inflation calculator. I anticipate the price of the phone 17 Pro to increase further.
The prices of the phone Plus, Max, and Pro Max
Since 2014, Apple has distributed a sizable version of the iPhone. Some of these were nothing more than a larger variation of the normal phone with a bigger screen and battery as well as some slight variations, like the iPhone 6 Plus having optical image stabilization on its lens while the phone 6 didn’t. However, the larger version started having “pro” features like a second rear camera and portrait mode with the iPhone 7 Plus.
The iPhone 6 Plus cost$ 749, which is$ 100 more than the iPhone 6, at the time of its release. And that$ 749 price stuck around for the iPhone 6S Plus and 7 Plus. Apple introduced the iPhone 8 for$ 699 ( a$ 50 increase over the 7 Plus ) and the$ 999 iPhone X in 2017.
The$ 1,099 iPhone XS Max, which I believe is the real sibling of the iPhone Plus line, was unveiled by Apple in 2018. That means the big iPhone got a$ 350 increase in a single year, the largest Apple has ever made. Some people might not consider the XS Max to be a follow-up to the Plus and believe it to be an entirely new iPhone model, though. However, this is my analysis.
Like the iPhone Pro, the Max and Pro Max would have the same price for years. Apple raised the entry requirements for the Pro Max model in 2023 and did not provide a$ 1,099 iPhone 15 Pro Max with 128GB of storage. You had to pay$ 1, 199 for the 256GB model, which technically cost the same as the 256GB model with the same amount of storage as the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The iPhone 17 and 17 Pro’s prices
Even without tariffs, it’s safe to assume that the , iPhone 17 lineup’s prices will be higher for some models. However, once you factor in everything that happened this year, it’s difficult to predict how much the price will rise, and whether that will affect just one or two models, or the entire iPhone 17 line.
Apple increased the price of its most affordable model earlier this year. Though it lacks the SE branding of the previous low-cost iPhone, the iPhone 16E came with a$ 599 price tag,$ 170 more than the$ 429 iPhone SE ( 2022 ).  ,
Apple doesn’t mention the costs of unreleased products. But we do have an unusual-for-Apple clue as to how these tariffs could affect the company.
We estimate the impact adding$ 900 million to our costs, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook during a , quarterly earnings call on May 1st, assuming the current global tariff rates, policies, and applications do not change for the remainder of the quarter and no new tariffs are added.
That$ 900 million figure, by definition, included all Apple products, not just the iPhone. And that was three weeks before Trump threatened another tariff aimed purely at the iPhone. However, any company will swallow up$ 900 million, and that additional expense will eventually need to be made up for. That typically results in higher prices, even if Trump presses Apple to credit the price increase to “new designs and features”
If there’s one thing for certain, we’ll know exactly what those prices will be when Apple launches the next generation of iPhone models at its September event.
A request for comment was ignored by Apple.