Analysts expect the iPhone 18 Pro range to launch this September at a higher price than current models, with estimates running from about $200 to as much as $300 more. The main cause is a global shortage of memory chips, the same parts that AI data centres are now buying in huge amounts. Apple chief executive Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal that price increases tied to memory costs were coming, and said he had never seen anything like the current squeeze in more than 40 years. Research firm Counterpoint estimates that the cost of the parts inside the top 1TB iPhone 18 Pro Max will rise by around $300 compared with last year's model. Reports put the year-on-year rise in DRAM and NAND flash chips at between 63% and 75%, and the storage alone in the top model is said to cost more than $250. A second factor is a new, more advanced processor that costs more to make. The shortage is driven by demand from artificial intelligence data centres, which need enormous amounts of memory and are willing to pay a premium. Only a few firms make these chips, primarily Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix, and much of the memory made this year has already been sold to big AI firms under long-term deals.