iPhone Prices May Rise in 2027 Amid LPDDR5X and NAND Memory Cost Surge

Apple is confronting intensifying cost pressures stemming from rising memory component prices, which could influence iPhone retail pricing in 2027, according to recent reports citing supply chain sources.

Memory Price Projections for Early 2027

Data circulating among supply chain participants indicates that LPDDR5X RAM prices may reach approximately $2.00 per gigabit in the first quarter of 2027—up from about $1.50 per gigabit in the third quarter of 2026. Concurrently, NAND flash storage costs could increase from roughly $0.26 to $0.33 per gigabit.

Why Smartphone Memory Costs Are Rising

The report attributes this upward trend to heightened demand from AI-driven data centers, which are consuming a substantial share of memory chip production capacity. That shift has contributed to elevated memory pricing across the smartphone industry in recent months.

Apple’s Supply Agreement with Samsung

According to the same supply chain report, Apple has reached a memory pricing agreement with Samsung for 2027—making it one of the first smartphone manufacturers to finalize such terms for the upcoming year.

Understanding the Gigabit vs. Gigabyte Distinction

The reported $2.00-per-gigabit figure does not translate directly to $2.00 per gigabyte of memory in a device. Memory contracts in this context use gigabits as the unit of measurement, whereas one gigabyte equals eight gigabits.

Potential Pricing Implications for iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2

No official decision by Apple to raise iPhone prices in 2027 has been announced. However, higher memory costs present the company with two primary options: absorb part of the increased expense or pass it on to consumers via higher retail prices. The iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2—both expected to launch in spring 2027 per the report—are positioned as early indicators of how memory cost inflation may affect Apple’s next-generation devices.

These pressures are not unique to Apple. Other smartphone manufacturers face identical challenges, including Samsung itself, which both supplies memory chips to multiple OEMs and incorporates those same components into its own smartphones.