The iPhone 17 Pro could cost more than ever

We here at Macworld love to get on our soapbox and complain about the specs where Apple shortchanges customers. We complained about RAM on Macs until Apple finally had to upgrade the baseline to 16GB to accommodate Apple Intelligence. Our latest cause is the base storage configuration for iPhones: it needs to be 256GB, not the current 128GB.

According to a Weibo post by Setsuna Digital, that upgrade may finally happen. Setsuna Digital, who has a reputation for accurate iPhone leaks, states that, “In 2025, Pro will finally start at 256GB. This is really not easy for Apple.😂” That would be a boost from the 128GB that the iPhone 16 Pro offers at its base configuration. (The larger iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at 256GB.)

Which seems like good news, but Setsuna Digital said in a subsequent post that the starting price will go up by $50, which means that the iPhone 17 Pro would start at $1,049 or $1,149 for the base configuration, depending on whether the post takes into account the extra $100 Apple already charges for the 256GB model.

We’ve seen other reports that state that the iPhone 17 lineup may have higher prices. It seems unavoidable, considering the state of the economy, tariffs, and rising costs. One way for Apple to soften to blow of a higher price tag is to shift its storage offerings. For example, when Apple released the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it started with 256GB of storage, eliminating the 128GB tier that was the base for the iPhone 14 Pro Max–but the starting price went up $100 to $1,199. That’s the same price Apple charged for the 256GB iPhone 14 Pro Max, so Apple wasn’t technically charging more, just eliminating one of the lower price options.

So it seems like we’ll see a similar tactic to raise the price of the iPhone 17 Pro. One way to look at it–and it could be something Apple will point out–is that a $1,049 price for 256GB is actually a price drop, since Apple sells the 256GB iPhone 16 Pro for $1,099. That’s assuming Apple doesn’t bump the entry-level price by $150, of course.

As far as the non-Pro model, Apple is expected to keep the same $799 price for the iPhone 17. The iPhone 17 Air, which is replacing the $899 iPhone 16 Plus, could cost more, possibly $949 or $999, to take the place of the higher-priced Pro model.

We’ll learn how much everything soon enough, as Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 next month, possibly on September 9. Until then, you can track all the rumors and reports in our iPhone 17 superguide.