Apple iPhone prices won’t rise quickly due to tariffs, but making iPhones in the US will definitely make them expensive
Right now, a trade war is going on between countries, and US President Donald Trump has increased import taxes (called tariffs). Because of this, many popular tech products, including the iPhone, are being affected.
For now, the price of the iPhone 16 is not likely to go up. But if Apple starts making iPhones in the US, the price will almost certainly increase.
Tariffs and Short-Term Impact
At the moment, Apple makes about 85% of its iPhones in China. Trump has now put a 104% tariff on Chinese products. In return, China added an 84% tariff on US products.
Some people say these tariffs might double the price of an iPhone, but that’s unlikely.
Apple doesn’t want to change iPhone 16 prices for now. The company wants people to keep buying them. Apple uses a system where it only builds iPhones as needed, so it doesn’t keep a huge stock in its stores. But it may have already sent more iPhones to the US before the new tariffs started. Nintendo might have done something similar for its Switch 2.
In the future, iPhone 17 might get more expensive, but Apple will try its best to avoid that. The reason is, Apple earns a lot of money from its services like Apple TV+, iCloud, Apple Music, and more. To earn from these services, Apple needs people to buy its devices. If the prices go up a lot, fewer people may buy iPhones.
Making iPhones in the US is a Bigger Problem
Trump wants companies to make their products in the US, including iPhones. But that idea is not practical.
Even if Apple builds iPhones in the US, the parts still come from different countries. For example:
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Battery: South Korea
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Camera: Japan
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Glass: Australia
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Touchscreen: Greece
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Audio chip: Singapore
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Gyroscope: Switzerland
Because of US tariffs, all these parts would cost more to import to the US than to China. That will make the iPhone more expensive if made in the US.
An expert named Tim Bajarin says it is very difficult to make iPhones in the US. The parts come from many countries, and building them in one cheap place is better. That’s why the US stopped making electronics and let other countries like Japan and China do it.
He also says if Apple brings all iPhone production to the US, it will have many problems. Labor costs are higher, and automation (robots) won’t create as many jobs.
In China, iPhones are mostly made by Foxconn. Workers there earn less than $3 per hour. In the US, the minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. If the workers join a union, they will earn more and also get benefits. So clearly, it will cost more to make iPhones in the US.
Apple’s Investment Plan
Company has not clearly said what it will do about the tariffs. But it has announced that it will spend $500 billion to build new offices and hire people in the US. However, these are not factories to build iPhones. They are for cloud services and AI projects.
So, the bigger risk to iPhone prices is not the tariffs, but the idea of making iPhones in the US. This plan is based on a false hope and it’s unlikely to work. Apple knows this, which is why it’s not planning to move iPhone production to the US.
Still, if the tariffs stay all year, Apple might eventually raise prices. It could keep prices the same for iPhone 17 and take some losses to grow its customer base. But that can’t go on forever. One day, Apple might say, “Now we have to increase the prices.”
In the end, some iPhone users say they might pay more if the price increase is not too big. But many others are not ready to pay extra.
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