There are new shiny iPhones, so Apple is making you pay more for older models

Apple is raising the price of its existing iPhone models by $100, including iPhone 16, iPhone 17, and iPhone Air. The price increases are steeper in some international markets, with prices in India reportedly rising by 20.5%. The company also discontinued the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. This strategy is unusual for Apple, as new iPhone generations typically make older models cheaper. However, the price hike was not entirely unexpected, given speculation about Apple's pricing strategy as it introduced its next-generation iPhones. A global shortage of memory and storage chips has contributed to the pressure, with demand for these components surging as AI companies and cloud providers build massive data centers. Former Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged this in a June interview with The Wall Street Journal, stating that rising component costs could force the company to rethink its pricing strategy. Apple may also be increasing prices to remain competitive with rivals like Samsung and Google, or to make its new Upgrade program less noticeable to consumers. The company's move comes as the startup community prepares to gather to discuss how to build sustainably in the AI era.