Apple has asked some of its suppliers to cut production of iPhone 18 Pro components due to lower-than-expected demand, according to Nikkei Asia ($).
Citing its own sources, the report claims that Apple has been more cautious about shipments since early September because of the rising cost of memory chips, leading to higher prices. Component orders for October were said to have been cut by at least 15 percent compared with what was originally requested.
The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max start at $1,199 and $1,299 respectively, which is $100 more than the models they replace. Apple has publicly blamed AI-driven memory chip costs for the recent price increases across its lineup, which has seen prices of MacBooks and iPads tick up, as well as for iPhone 16 and 17 models and other products.
Nikkei also said that softer demand between late August and October could be related to Apple changing its iPhone launch schedule. Rather than announcing its latest flagship iPhone series in one go, as it typically does, Apple is expected instead to release the regular iPhone 18 in the spring of 2027, alongside the lower-cost iPhone 18e and the ultra-thin iPhone Air 2, as part of a split launch strategy.
The iPhone 18 Pro models feature 12GB of RAM, which is the same working memory as last year's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. One rumor has it that Apple originally planned to equip the iPhone 18 Pro lineup with 16GB of RAM, but it may have ultimately decided against it due to the higher cost.
