Apple's iPhone price hike is in the entry model, at 1TB. We analyzed the increase rates and reasons for all models according to their storage options.
Apple updated the price lists for both Türkiye and the USA on the night it introduced the iPhone 18 Pro. The increase reflected in the headlines as "100 dollar increase" is not actually a single rate, the increase grows as the storage capacity of the device grows. This creates a picture that coincides exactly with the reason for the price increase, the global memory shortage triggered by artificial intelligence data centers.
How did the increase rates change according to capacity in Turkey?
The real break in the table is in the 1 TB model of iPhone Air. While the 256 GB version of the same device increases by 13.9%, the increase in the 1 TB version doubles to 27.9%. The difference paid for a single capacity step was 14,000 TL before the increase, but now it is 34,000 TL.
The picture is the same on the US side
This is not an exchange rate calculation specific to Turkey. The increase in Apple's US price list also grows with capacity: The entry model of Pro Max has increased by 8.3%, from the previous generation's $1,199 tag to $1,299, while the 2 TB version has increased by 25%, from $1,999 to $2,499. The difference is exactly 500 dollars.
The current US price steps of the iPhone 18 Pro also confirm this: 256 GB $ 1,199, 512 GB $ 1,399, 1 TB $ 1,799, 2 TB $ 2,399. So the cost of each capacity step is twice the previous one: $200, $400, $600.
Why has storage become so expensive?
The answer lies outside the phone industry. Memory demand from AI data centers has pushed DRAM and NAND flash prices to record levels through 2026. Apple first reflected this pressure by increasing the prices of Mac and iPad on June 25, and iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods were exempt from the increase in that round. The move in September shows that the same cost wave has finally reached the phone side.
The logic is simple: while the processor, screen and chassis of the device remain the same, the amount of NAND inside the box quadruples from 256 GB to 1 TB. Since this is the component where the cost increase is felt most harshly, the increase also grows in proportion to the capacity.
How many times the price in Türkiye is that of the USA?
To make the comparison correctly, it is necessary to take into account the tax burden in Turkey. In Turkey, 50% SCT followed by 20% VAT is applied to upper segment phones; This magnifies the pre-tax price by approximately 1.8 times.
When calculated based on the September 9 exchange rate of 48.50 TL, the $1,199 tag of the iPhone 18 Pro corresponds to 58,152 TL, approximately 104,700 TL with taxes. The price in Türkiye is 137.999 TL. In other words, even after tax adjustment, the difference is at 32% and this difference includes the share against exchange rate fluctuation and distribution costs.
What is interesting is that storage upgrades are the most "fair" item in this table: The cost of switching from 256 GB to 512 GB on the iPhone 18 Pro is 17,000 TL in Turkey, and the tax equivalent of the 200 dollar difference in the USA is approximately 17,500 TL. So, the real difference in Turkey consists of the basic price of the device; Capacity steps are an almost exact reflection of the dollar price.
The practical takeaway is that in this price list, upgrading to the high-capacity model is a much more expensive choice than in previous years. The cost of buying 1 TB instead of 256 GB on the iPhone Air is 51,000 TL. In other words, this price corresponds to two-thirds of the price of the iPhone 17e. Cloud storage, external disk or the options of settling for a lower capacity are stronger alternatives than ever this year.
The memory crisis is expected to last until 2027. This means that capacity differences may widen further in the next generation.
