Apple warns: iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max getting more expensive

Apple, one of the world's richest companies, alludes to raising the prices of its highly profitable iPhone Pro models for next year. It would rather satisfy shareholders than existing customers, and so import taxes are being passed on to the latter.

The only remaining question is how Apple will package that message, according to reports in the WSJ. It is not appreciated by the current U.S. administration that we blame price increases on the numerous import tariffs that the U.S. has imposed on the entire world and especially China.

But there is no question that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will become more expensive. And that may not only apply to American customers, who end up paying the extra charges. It is not inconceivable that Apple may want to ease the pain for Americans by throwing up prices worldwide. Sony recently did the same thing with the PlayStation 5. The price of that went up by €50 in several European countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium.

Chance of higher inflation elsewhere

The idea behind this is simple; share the pain among as many people as possible. If everyone does a little watering down, then a small group doesn't have to bleed as much. The only problem is that if every company does this it will create inflation. As mentioned, Apple is still working on a excuse excuse to sell this to its customers. We offer a few suggestions in advance:

• Challenging market conditions
• Higher labor costs in anti-American countries
• Research and development of innovative AI features
• Mood

All kidding aside, Apple could of course grow a backbone and use its contacts to lower rates. Or bear some of the pain itself with the reportedly $65.17 billion it has cash stashed in tax havens. It could also, we offer only a suggestion, cash in on the exorbitant profit margin of premium iPhones.

iPhone 17 stays out of harm's way

A price increase for the iPhone 17 is less likely. Apple makes its entry-level phones in India, and that country is not hit as hard as China. The Pro models are manufactured exclusively in China, and that doesn't seem likely to change anytime soon.

You just go buy that new iPhone!

All good intentions notwithstanding, presumably many people are just going to swallow the price increase. Because they can't or won't escape the Apple ecosystem, or because they're fine with the idea of the working class further enriching American billionaires.

Soon the tax credit for the super-rich will expire, and the current U.S. government is looking for ways to extend it. Passing on US import taxes to consumers elsewhere is one alternative. A kind of perverse interpretation of Trickle-down economics. You don't have to swallow that, by the way, but who are we.

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