The Base Model iPhone 17 Pro Costs More Than Ever

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It probably won't come as a surprise to many Apple fans to learn that Apple announced two new Pro iPhones at its "Awe Dropping" event today. Like previous iPhone series, the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max offer the best specs and the most features you can get in an Apple phone right now, including the new pro camera system. But there's something new about this year's Pro series that isn't a perk. In fact, for many, it's going to be a bit of a bummer: It'll likely cost you more to buy a Pro iPhone this year.

Ever since Apple launched the iPhone X in 2017, the company has priced its premium smartphone starting at $999. The iPhone XS, the iPhone 11 Pro, and so on have all started at a grand. No longer. The iPhone 17 Pro now starts at $1,099, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max starts at a whopping $1,199. It seems the new iPhone Air, Apple's thinnest iPhone ever, now takes that $999 price point.

Here's the full pricing breakdown for the Pros, determined by storage size:

• iPhone 17 Pro (256GB): $1,099

• iPhone 17 Pro (512GB): $1,299

• iPhone 17 Pro (1TB): $1,499

• iPhone 17 Pro Max (256GB): $1,199

• iPhone 17 Pro Max (512GB): $1,399

• iPhone 17 Pro Max (1TB): $1,599

• iPhone 17 Pro Max: (2TB): $1,999

Let's put aside the fact that Apple will sell you an iPhone for $2,000, if you want one. $1,100 itself is a lot for a smartphone, especially when there are so many options on the market that are far less expensive. Apple knows this, of course. During the event, the company made a point to highlight the entire current iPhone lineup, which now starts with the iPhone 16e at $599. If all you want is an iPhone that does the things you expect an iPhone to do—take photos, send iMessages, place FaceTime calls—you might consider looking there. If you want the Pro perks, though, it's going to cost you at least nearly double that, and more than you might have expected last year.

Raising prices by taking away choice

However, looks are a bit deceiving here. It's not that Apple is raising prices on the iPhones themselves. If you wanted an iPhone 16 Pro with 256GB yesterday, that would have cost you $1,099, too. The same logic goes for the pricing on the 512GB version, or the 256GB model of the iPhone 16 Pro Max. These prices, with respect to storage, match between iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro lines. Only two things are new here: The iPhone 17 Pro Max has a 2TB option, and the 128GB variants are now missing.

That's really the issue at hand: Apple is bumping up the base storage of its iPhones this year, without adjusting the prices. It's not a decision without reason: 128GB doesn't last long, especially on a Pro iPhone with three 48MP cameras. But now, that $999 option is gone. It might not cost any more to get a 256GB Pro iPhone this year than it cost last year, but it does cost more to pick up a Pro iPhone overall. $100 more, to be exact.

When I first saw the news that the iPhone 17 Pro now starts at $1,099, I assumed the Trump administration's tariffs were to blame. After all, the tariffs have already caused companies to raise prices to compensate for the increased import duties. It really seemed like only a matter of time before Apple decided to make its products more expensive. This pricing decision could still very well be a result of those tariffs, as Apple could have made the 256GB iPhone 17 Pro $999 if it wanted to. But price increases could certainly be worse. In addition to leaving the cost of storage sizes the same, the company did not adjust the pricing of other products, including AirPods Pro 3 ($249), Apple Watch Series 11 ($399), Apple Watch SE ($249), Apple Watch Ultra 3 ($799), and iPhone 17 ($799).

If you're someone who always buys additional iPhone storage, these prices won't phase you. But for the customers who stick with the base models of Apple's Pro phones, the iPhone 17 Pro is going to be more expensive than ever.