US$2,000 for a phone? Apple says yes

The Apple iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max are pictured during an event at Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, on September 9. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

Back in 2017, consumers balked at the idea of a US$1,000 iPhone. Now, some shoppers may end up paying double that if they choose Apple’s latest top-of-the-line model.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max, the larger variant of Apple’s Pro phone that launches today along with the iPhone 17, 17 Pro and iPhone Air, costs $2,000 if buyers choose the version with two terabytes (2TB) of storage. Phones with extra storage typically cost more, but this is the first time Apple has released a 2TB option for the iPhone, making it one of the most expensive phones on the market.

The launch comes as Apple faces mounting pressure to boost iPhone sales amid concerns about its AI strategy. Offering a more expensive price tier for the iPhone allows Apple to generate more revenue without selling more units during what has been, until recently, a rocky smartphone market. Some analysts say consumers, tightening their purse strings because of inflation and tariffs, have been cutting back spending on smartphones.

Apple’s new iPhones should modestly raise the product’s average selling price, or the average price iPhones are sold at, said Angelo Zino, senior vice president at investment research firm CFRA. That’s a metric analysts monitor as a sign of how lucrative the iPhone is for Apple.

But Zino largely expects the price boost to be driven by demand for the iPhone Air, which is $100 more expensive than last year’s iPhone 16 Plus. The 2TB storage option is a means for Apple to differentiate its high-end phones from the competition, he says. Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra and Google’s Pixel 10 Pro XL top out at 1TB of storage.

“I think it’s an interesting kind of offering, in the sense that I don’t believe there’s another phone out there that offers a two terabyte internal storage,” he said.

The $2,000 iPhone may be Apple’s most expensive phone yet, but it’s not quite as pricey as foldable phones from Samsung and Google with 1TB of storage. The 1TB version of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 costs $2,419.99, while the Pixel 10 Pro Fold with the same amount of storage is priced at $2,149.

Many buyers aren’t likely to immediately face that price tag since carriers typically offer trade-in deals and payment plans to soften the blow. Fifty-five percent of phone shoppers in the United States — including those who purchase flip phones and basic mobile phones — buy their device through an installment plan, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

And it’s shoppers looking for less expensive phones, not premium devices like the iPhone 17 Pro Max, that are more likely to hold off on upgrading.

“Economic uncertainty tends to compress demand at the lower end of the market, where price sensitivity is highest,” the International Data Corporation’s Nabila Popal wrote in a report earlier this month.

Apple’s Pro iPhones tend to sell better than the standard entry-level models, particularly in the United States, according to CFRA’s Zino and Josh Lowitz, an analyst for Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

The increased storage may also be another sign that Apple is marketing its “pro” iPhones towards content creators and video editors. Large multimedia files typically take up more space, and the Pro models also include support for tools used to sync video across multiple cameras. Apple said it filmed its September launch event on an iPhone 17 Pro.

Lowitz noted that 2TB is considered a lot of storage even for a laptop. Those who purchase 2TB laptops typically work in fields that require saving a lot of large files locally, like graphic designers who need to preserve hundreds of different design versions for projects.

“Other than people with extraordinary video usage, two terabytes is just … it’s a crazy amount of storage,” he said.

Apple announced its new iPhone lineup on September 9 on its campus in Cupertino, California, ahead of the Friday launch. The Pro models include a redesigned back panel and a camera with a longer zoom, along with extended battery life. The iPhones also have better performance due to Apple’s new chip and an updated design that allows for better heat dissipation, Apple claims.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives predicts iPhone preorders will increase five to 10 per cent compared to last year since the firm estimates 20 per cent of global iPhone owners haven’t upgraded in the past four years.

Article written by Lisa Eadicicco, CNN