Apple’s iPhones have never exactly been synonymous with affordability, but hold on to your seats as the iPhone 18 might just redefine what ‘expensive’ means with a massive price hike. All thanks to TSMC’s rising 2nm chip production costs, which Apple will likely pass on to the consumer, the A20 chip will be more expensive than the upcoming A19 chip. The company also has its foldable in line for next year, which is expected to cost upwards of $2,000. The market expectations for the device are quite challenging, as we have seen with the foldable iPhone’s strategic dilemmas.
The 2026 iPhone 18 models are expected to be significantly more expensive due to TSMC’s 2nm chip technology and rising tariffs
In the coming months or so, Apple will have a hard time keeping the price of the iPhone at bay due to the recently introduced tariffs by the Trump administration. Moreover, the price of the foldable iPhone is also slated to be at least $1,000 more than the current version of the ‘Pro Max’ iPhone. Now, it is being reported that Apple supplier TSMC’s 2nm chip production costs could end up increasing the price of the iPhone 18 next year.
Digital Chat Station claims on Weibo that TSMC will introduce its 2nm chip technology next year, and Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek will make use of the new chip fabrication process. However, due to rising manufacturing costs, these companies would ultimately have to introduce a major price hike to compensate. The translation of the post reads:
“It is expected that the cost will increase significantly, and the price of the new machine may increase again.”
It was reported previously by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in September of 2025 that manufacturing costs are higher due to lower yields. However, the analyst also shared an update to the story in January of this year that the 2nm yields have improved to 60 to 70 percent. The relation between the manufacturing cost and yield ratio is inversely proportional, and it remains to be seen where it leads.
We are expecting A20 chips to be made on TSMC’s 2nm architecture, which will deliver enhanced computational and graphical performance. At first, Kuo claimed that the 2nm chips would be incorporated into the iPhone 18 Pro models, but with the yields improving, we can expect Apple to streamline the new chip technology across the entire iPhone 18 lineup. Apple will launch the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year with a major design overhaul with a large camera bar at the back, as we have seen in the leaked cases from third-party manufacturers.
It remains to be seen what the actual price of the iPhone 18 lineup will be, but based on recent reports, tariffs and higher manufacturing costs of components could lead to a massive price hike. Do you think Apple’s foldable iPhone will be priced more than $2,000?
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