Rising storage costs reduce Apple’s iPhone upgrade markups

Technology · First reported 4 Nov, 12:45 · Updated 13:13

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Robert Wade · CC BY-SA 2.0

Two reports say Apple’s higher iPhone storage tiers remain substantially more expensive than their estimated production costs, even as rising memory and flash-storage costs have reduced the markup. Their figures differ on some upgrade comparisons.

For the iPhone 18 Pro, the reports describe a $200 upgrade from 256GB to 512GB; one estimates the added storage costs Apple $66 to produce, while the other focuses on a $600 512GB-to-1TB upgrade with an estimated $192 direct cost.
The Notebookcheck report says the estimated markup on the 256GB-to-512GB upgrade fell from 1,233% on the iPhone 17 Pro to 203% on the iPhone 18 Pro. The 9to5Mac report says the 512GB-to-1TB upgrade’s estimated direct cost rose from $42 to $192 as its price rose from $400 to $600.
Apple has warned that higher memory costs are pressuring margins; Notebookcheck also reports that gross margin fell from 50.1% to 47.9% in the third quarter of 2026.

Summary written by Lux AI from 2 articles

Key facts

iPhone 18 Pro, 256GB to 512GB: $200 upgrade price; $66 estimated production cost (aec376e3-eed1-46ec-87a3-fe0de9cbcb7c)
iPhone 18 Pro, 512GB to 1TB: $600 upgrade price; $192 estimated direct cost (7b50af45-762f-4505-8057-1c8dbb2d07a5; aec376e3-eed1-46ec-87a3-fe0de9cbcb7c)
iPhone 17 Pro, 256GB to 1TB: $400 upgrade price; $42 estimated cost, according to 9to5Mac’s account (7b50af45-762f-4505-8057-1c8dbb2d07a5)
Apple gross margin: Notebookcheck reports a decline from 50.1% to 47.9% in the third quarter of 2026 (aec376e3-eed1-46ec-87a3-fe0de9cbcb7c)