Apple has been making the most of the ongoing memory 'chipflation' by freezing the prices of its sprawling portfolio of products in a bid to gain market share. But this does not mean that the iPhone manufacturer is immune to the ongoing biting cost surges.
As a matter of fact, despite recent corroborative commentary, you should not count on the base iPhone 18 sporting a 12GB RAM, especially as memory costs are slated to make up a whopping 45 percent of a given iPhone's Bill of Materials (BOM) by next year.
LPDDR5, which made up just 10 percent of a given iPhone's BOM until recently, will soon make up as much as 45 percent of Apple's total iPhone cost
Recently, we've received a smattering of reports that suggest Apple will equip the base iPhone 18 with 12GB of RAM, constituting a sizable bump from the base iPhone 17's 8GB RAM.
However, Financial Times is out with an interesting report today, postulating that a typical LPDDR5 chip, which made up a paltry 10 percent of a given iPhone's BOM until recently, will make up a whopping 45 percent of the proverbial pie by next year.
The report also notes that by 2027, Apple's RAM costs will have surged by 400 percent (we are assuming the beginning of 2025 as a reference point).
This aligns with a recent SemiAnalysis report that posits that LPDDR5 contract prices, which are currently hovering at around $10/GB after undergoing a 3x increase since Q1 2025, are expected to undergo a double-digit percentage increase in 2027 as well.
If the info from the SemiAnalysis report is accurate, LPDDR5 costs were hovering at around $3/GB in early 2025. As such, a 400 percent (5x) increase from those levels suggests Apple's RAM-related costs will swell to $15/GB by 2027!
Remember, the base iPhone 18 is set to launch in the spring of 2027 alongside the iPhone 18e and, possibly, the iPhone Air 2.
If Apple were to equip the base iPhone 18 with a 12GB RAM, it would cost a whopping $180, as per our imputed values. Therefore, it is quite likely that Apple will opt for an 8GB RAM, which would cost $120, while trying to freeze the retail price of the entry-level iPhone.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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