Summer is usually the worst time to buy a new iPhone. Not this year

Macworld

Every summer, many tech enthusiasts dissuade their friends from buying a new iPhone for two main reasons: price and hardware upgrades. Despite new iPhones introducing more advanced technology, they typically maintain the same price as their predecessors—or, at worst, raise it only slightly along with increasing storage capacity. So, buying a new iPhone just a couple months before the September launch of the new models would mean paying full price for year-old features.

That’s not the case this time around.

Unlike previous years, when this would be the worst time to upgrade, buying an iPhone 17 Pro before the upcoming September launch may secure you a better deal. While the iPhone 18 Pro will undoubtedly bring welcome changes, the overall package may not justify the price.

At what cost?

In case you’ve missed it, Apple just hiked the prices of iPads, Macs, and other products by up to $300 (for the base models). The substantial change, triggered by recent memory and storage supply constraints, curiously excluded the iPhone line. This omission all but confirms that the iPhone’s price increase is scheduled to arrive with the 18 Pro models in late September.

Typically, Apple raises base iPhone prices by $100 every few years and includes extra storage to soften the blow. Things are far from typical now. According to some forecasts, the iPhone 18 Pro may start at a whopping $1,299. For reference, the base iPhone 17 Pro offers 256GB of storage for $1,099. So, even if Apple pushes the base capacity to 512GB, those with minimal local storage needs will potentially have no choice but to pay $200 extra. And if you’re a Pro Max user, you may be looking at a $1,399 bill for the most affordable variant.

People may argue that the other hardware upgrades warrant the higher price tag. Let’s take a closer look at some of the device’s highlights, and you can decide for yourself.

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