The iPhone 16 Pro Max could reach a price point of around $2300.
Apple’s iconic iPhone may soon cost you about double what it costs now, as analysts predict a 43% price increase in response to U.S. tariffs on imports from China and elsewhere in the world.
On April 2, or “Liberation Day” as President Trump called it, a new assortment of “reciprocal” tariffs was applied against every foreign country in the Apple supply chain. While there’s a minimum 10% tariff on all goods coming into the United States, imports from China were hit with a 54% tariff.
Unsurprisingly, Apple’s stock price suffered, as it took a dive of more than 9% in the period immediately following the announcement of Trump’s tariffs. The iPhone maker was previously able to negotiate a tariff exemption during President Trump’s first term in office, but it looks like that won’t happen this time around.
According to a Reuters report published on Friday, analysts from Rosenblatt Securities believe that Apple could increase iPhone and Apple Watch prices by 43% to offset the added cost of the tariffs, passing the costs on to end consumers.
Apple’s remaining product lines wouldn’t be spared either, with projected price increases being roughly around 40% for each hardware platform.
Specifically, Rosenblatt Securities claims that we could see prices increase in the following manner:
- iPhone — 43%
- Apple Watch — 43%
- iPad — 42%
- AirPods — 39%
If implemented, this means that end consumers would have to pay over $1140 for the base model iPhone 16, which currently costs $799. The top-of-the-line iPhone 16 Pro Max with 1TB of storage would be priced at almost $2300, up from the current $1599 price point.
Even Apple’s entry-level iPhone 16e, introduced in February 2025, would get a substantial price increase. Instead of its current $599 price tag, users would have to pay north of $850 for the device. This would make the iPhone 16e more expensive than the current iPhone 16 price point, even with all its drawbacks.
Not everyone agrees with the projected 43% price hike, however, as Counterpoint Research co-founder Neil Shah believes the number will be closer to 30%. He says this is the minimum amount required to offset the tariff costs.
Angelo Zino of CFRA Research, meanwhile, claims Apple will find it difficult to impose a price increase of more than 10% at present, given consumer sentiment. However, Zino does expect a major price adjustment for the iPhone 17 in September 2025.
Where Apple products are made, and how will tariffs affect them
China accounts for roughly 80% of Apple’s total production capacity, meaning that around 90% of all iPhones, and 80% of iPads are assembled in the country.
Even with Apple’s manufacturing efforts in Thailand, Taiwan, India, Vietnam, and elsewhere, the company and its suppliers will be negatively impacted by President Trump’s latest set of tariffs. The iPhone maker’s stock prices continue to suffer as well.
India assembles approximately 10% to 15% of iPhones, but has been expected to reach up to 20% by the end of 2025, helped by the country cutting import taxes for Apple and others. Apple is now required to pay a tariff of 26% on imports from India, which is significantly less than the tariff for China.
Rosenblatt Securities estimates that the tariffs imposed on Wednesday could cost Apple up to $40 billion. Rosenblatt believes that negotiations between Apple and the White House are likely.
However, how the tariffs have been applied make that less likely than before. The new tariffs have been implemented through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
This practically means that there is no product list for exemptions, nor any facility for Apple to even apply for an exemption. The sole way to get an exemption under the new tariffs is by specific order from the President.
President Trump has already said that there will be no exemptions for any firm or any product, beyond an incredibly narrow list of components and raw materials that will have little effect on Apple’s production.
But, Apple CEO Tim Cook, once called “Tim Apple” by the current president, has an established strategy for dealing with Trump. Their conversations typically revolve around a singular issue important to Apple.
Still, it remains to be seen whether the iPhone maker will be able to secure a tariff exemption as it did before. The company might also opt to raise prices across all of its product lines, which is a more likely scenario.
