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Chapter 1: Why will your next iPhone be more expensive?
This is Tech Guide with Stephen Fennec, the podcast that keeps you updated and educated. Hello and welcome to Tech Guide episode 699. Great to have you with us once again. Thank you for listening. My name is Stephen Fenwick and I'm the editor of techguide.com.au. On this week's show, why your next iPhone will be more expensive. We hear from Apple CEO Tim Cook himself.
Google has launched a new home speaker with Gemini on board. and Ring has unveiled a new intercom for apartment dwellers. In the Tech Guide reviews, we take a look at the Plaud Note Pro AI device, and we check out the new Oppo Watch X3 that works with both iPhone and Android. And we'll answer all of your questions in the Tech Guide help desk.
And it's all brought to you by Netgear, the company that keeps you connected, and Norton, the company that keeps you protected.
Chapter 2: What did Tim Cook say about the iPhone price increase?
Well, it's going to happen. The next iPhone will be more expensive. It's all been all but confirmed that the new iPhone will cost you more. So your next iPhone is going up. It's going to be – the price is going – the price is being hiked
And it's all because of the higher cost and scarcity of memory and storage, something we've spoken about a little while ago on the show, which is affecting the technology industry across the board, and in particular Apple, who's one of the biggest purchasers of memory and storage in the world.
Chapter 3: How is Google enhancing its home speaker with AI?
And if they're feeling the pinch, then God only knows what other companies are feeling as well. But Tim Cook all but confirmed this price rise when speaking to the Wall Street Journal. He said, unfortunately, price hikes are unavoidable.
We're doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we've been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable. Unsustainable means they're going to pass on those price rises to the customer. So no official, obviously, word until we see the new devices.
So we're expecting the iPhone 18 Pro and the all but confirmed iPhone Ultra foldable device in September. And so they will obviously be more expensive, significantly more expensive than the iPhone 17. Now, analysts are predicting the price could rise significantly
Chapter 4: What features does the new Ring Intercom offer for apartments?
by as high as 300 US dollars, which is a decent chunk. That's 428 Australian dollars when you do the straight conversion. That's what we did today. That means that the current price of the iPhone 17 Pro is $1,999. So if taking that price as the base, then that means the iPhone 18 Pro could cost, in Aussie dollars, $2,499. The iPhone 17 Pro Max starts at... At the moment, $2,199 Aussie dollars.
So that means the 18 Pro Max could start at $2,699. So it's...
Chapter 5: What is the Plaud Note Pro AI device and its capabilities?
Expect that rise. Hopefully it won't be that much. That'll be a decent rise. It won't stop people buying the new phone, of course, but it is going to hit the hip pocket and couldn't have been a worse time where petrol's more expensive, groceries are more expensive, everything's more expensive, and your new iPhone's going to be more expensive too.
But do you remember, cast your mind back a year ago, When President Donald Trump was all about tariffs and tariffs and make it in America, if it comes from China, there's going to be a tariff, and he was all about the tariffs.
And the same analysts who predicted a price rise of up to $300 US for the iPhone were all saying basically the same thing, that they expect a price rise as a result of all the tariff talk. But what did Apple do?
They surprised everyone by keeping the iPhone 17 prices basically the same as the iPhone 16, which was – I remember writing a story about how the analysts are predicting the high rises and then writing the story about how surprising they kept the prices at the same level.
Chapter 6: What makes the Oppo Watch X3 stand out from other smartwatches?
So good on Apple for doing that. But it appears that Tim Cook – Quoted in the Wall Street Journal, has set customer expectations. I think he's deliberately putting it out there just so it's not a shock come September when you see that hike of, I hope it's not as high, of possibly 300 US dollars, which would be, let's call it 450 Aussie dollars.
So it's not clear, obviously, which devices will be more expensive. The other question, too, is will current devices also increase in price? Because they've got to keep producing. When the 18 comes out, they're going to still produce an iPhone 17. So they're going to have to produce that.
Chapter 7: What are the benefits of the Tech Guide Help Desk segment?
Is that going to cost more because the price of memory and storage has gone up? Is that going to be more expensive than last year? Is the iPhone 17E going to rise above $1,000? It was $999. Is that going to be now $1,199? So it's not really clear where their pricing is going. I can't see Apple increasing any pricing until after the iPhone launch.
And talk is that pricing on iPads and Macs are also going to go up later this year as well. And again, due to the greater demand for storage chips and memory because everything Apple make has storage chips and memory, basically.
Chapter 8: How does cloud storage impact your device storage management?
So it's going to affect not just the iPhones, it seems. It's going to affect their entire lineup. And I've got to say, if Apple is feeling the pinch, who's to say that other companies aren't feeling that same pinch, including Samsung? Samsung has a launch event set for some time in late July. This is for their foldable devices.
It will be really interesting to see how their pricing for these eighth-generation foldable devices will compare to last year's model. But get this, though. Among the companies that manufacture the memory chips, Samsung is one of them. Samsung manufactures memory chips alongside a company called SK Hynix and Micron. And guess what? Apple buy their memory and storage from Samsung at times.
So we see if Samsung can absorb a potential price increase. If they're making the memory themselves, are they going to give themselves preference when it comes to selling it? My gut says yes. So maybe Samsung may be able to weather the storm slightly better than Apple in this case. But it is the memory companies, including Samsung, are increasing production capacity to keep up with demand.
Now, the reason for this, I should have said this at the top, the reason for the shortage is because these memory companies are prioritizing server chips and memory for enterprise. In other words, data centers. These AI needs data centers, right? And that's where they're getting higher prices from those companies and that's where they're doing business.
So demand for consumer device chips is at an all-time high and it's hard to meet the demand. But industry strategists suggest Apple's best move here is to sign a multi-year agreement with memory makers. So they'll do a deal. They might do like a five-year deal, massive upfront cash payment to the prepayment, and that will then guarantee them future supplies, possibly more stable pricing.
So you could in the long term potentially see Apple The iPhone 18 is definitely going to be higher. That's already in concrete. But potentially, if these deals are in place, the price could come down slightly for the iPhone 19 if they've got these multi-year agreements in place. Time will tell. We look forward to September, Apple's launch event.
Also looking forward to July, Samsung's launch event to see how well they can absorb the memory and storage costs. Well, considering they're one of the companies that make that memory and storage, I'd say their chances are slightly better than Apple's.
We'll find out in September when Apple unveils their new lineup, which is expected only to be the Pro models and this new, as I said, all but confirmed iPhone Ultra foldable device. And look, the foldable device, it's going to be expensive anyway, but can you imagine with the memory increase, that memory tax, let's call it, it's going to be even more expensive. But you know what?
People will still buy it. There'll still be a demand. That's the power of the Apple brand. If you want to read more about why your iPhone is going to be more expensive, your next iPhone, you can check that out at techguide.com.au. This is Tech Guide with Stephen Fennec. Google has finally released a new home speaker.
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