iPhone 18 Pro display costs slashed as Apple battles rising memory prices

Two new models of iPhones, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, are to be launched in a couple of weeks from now, and the expectation is that their prices will shoot sky-high.

However, it seems Apple has discovered a supply chain benefit that can help contain such price hikes.

According to information published by South Korea's DealSite citing industry sources, Apple has managed to strike deals for a substantial reduction in prices with its display suppliers.

The company will pay just around $68 for each iPhone 18 Pro Max display, compared to the previous range of $110-$120 per iPhone 17 Pro Max screen.

This is all happening against the backdrop of a continuous increase in memory chip prices in the industry. In preparation for the launch, Apple will be increasing its regular four-week storage to six weeks with OLED panels.

In spite of cheaper screen prices, increased prices of RAM and processors are anticipated to hike the price of the devices. Most analysts think that the new Pro models could cost anywhere between $50 to $400 more than the existing model, with an average of an increase of $200 to $300 being predicted.

For instance, Google has just increased the price of its latest Pixel 11 Pro by $100 without changing anything else other than reducing the base memory from 16GB to 12GB in order to help cover production costs.

​The cheaper display will not compromise on the visual quality of the products. According to reports, the iPhone 18 Pro models will use LTPO Plus technology that will provide faster speed, variable refresh rate, and improved energy savings over the existing LTPO panels.