Reports on Oct. 9 said a sharp rise in memory chip costs had forced Apple to raise prices and hurt demand, prompting the company to ask some suppliers to cut component output for the newly released iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
After checking with companies in Apple’s supply chain, a source at one supplier said iPhone 18 Pro orders fell after Apple issued updated shipment guidance, while iPhone 18 Pro Max orders increased. The source said the overall order volume had changed little.
Another supply-chain source said the rumor was clearly one-sided. According to that person, strong demand for the iPhone 18 Pro Max led Apple to shift part of its iPhone 18 Pro orders to the Pro Max, rather than reduce the total. The source added that the change benefited the supply chain for the higher-end Pro Max model.
September launch and higher prices
Apple released the iPhone 18 Pro lineup in September. Because of changes to its product planning, the company did not launch a base iPhone 18 model at that time. The two models introduced in this round carried starting prices of 9,999 yuan and 10,999 yuan, both above the iPhone 17 Pro series.
Soft resale market for iPhone 18 Pro
During the first sales period in mid-September, a reporter outside Apple’s official retail store in Shenzhen saw weak buyback demand for the iPhone 18 Pro. Some scalpers were not buying the device, and in some cases the buyback price was below Apple’s official starting price.
At present, supply of the iPhone 18 Pro is relatively ample. Store staff said only the black 512GB version was available for that configuration, while other storage versions were adequately stocked. The iPhone 18 Pro Max was not yet available for in-store purchase.