Apple Just Launched the iPhone 18 — Here’s What It Costs and Why the iPhone 17 Just Got Cheaper

Apple’s big September event landed today, and this year’s keynote broke from the usual script in a pretty major way. No standard iPhone 18. No “affordable” flagship. Just two Pro models and, finally, the foldable everyone’s been talking about for years.

Here’s what’s actually going on, and why your timing to buy might matter more than usual this year.

The lineup looks different this time

For the first time since 2019, Apple didn’t launch a base-model iPhone alongside the Pro lineup. Instead, September 9 belonged to three devices: the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and Apple’s first-ever foldable iPhone.

The regular iPhone 18, a cheaper iPhone 18e, and a second-generation iPhone Air are reportedly being pushed to spring 2027 instead. That’s a real shift in Apple’s release rhythm, and it means anyone hoping for a budget-friendly new iPhone this fall is out of luck — for now.

It was also a symbolic event for another reason: it’s the first keynote led by John Ternus, who officially took over as Apple’s CEO on September 1, succeeding Tim Cook.

The foldable finally shows up

Apple’s take on a folding phone has been rumored for what feels like forever, and it’s finally real. Ahead of the event, reports described a book-style design with an outer screen around 5.3–5.5 inches and an inner display closer to 7.6–7.8 inches when unfolded — plus a titanium frame and an unusually thin profile for a folding device.

Its name was still up in the air right until launch, with leaks bouncing between “iPhone Fold,” “iPhone Ultra,” and “iPhone Duo.” And the price tag matches the ambition: pre-event estimates put it anywhere from roughly $2,099 to $2,299 to start, with top-spec configurations potentially crossing $3,000. That would make it the priciest iPhone Apple has ever sold.

Yeah, prices are going up

If you were hoping this was the year Apple held the line on pricing, the signs pointed the other way. Analysts had been flagging a global memory-chip shortage for months, and that pressure was expected to push the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max somewhere between $100 and $200 above last year’s iPhone 17 Pro, which started at $1,099.

Not everyone agreed on that, to be fair — a couple of well-regarded analysts thought Apple might actually hold Pro pricing steady this cycle. But the broader expectation going in was: this generation costs more.

Meanwhile, iPhone 17 prices are already dropping

Here’s the part that actually matters if you’re shopping right now rather than lusting after a $2,000+ folding phone: retailers didn’t wait for the keynote to start cutting iPhone 17 prices.

In the UK, Amazon, Currys, John Lewis, and EE had already knocked up to £150 off the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, with the base iPhone 17 getting a £100 cut. Spain’s MediaMarkt trimmed prices too, and in Australia, JB Hi-Fi was offering as much as AU$300 off the Pro Max — one of the bigger discounts spotted anywhere.

Apple itself, notably, hadn’t officially cut iPhone 17 prices before the event. And there’s a real argument for why it might not this year: normally, the old flagship gets a permanent price cut because a new standard model bumps it down the lineup. But since there’s no new standard iPhone 18 this fall, that usual domino effect doesn’t really apply. Some reporting suggested Apple would still discount the base iPhone 17 and 17 Plus once the Pro models shipped, while phasing out the 17 Pro and Pro Max entirely — but that wasn’t locked in going into the keynote.

Apple also sweetened its trade-in program ahead of launch. Trade-in values on the iPhone 16 Pro Max climbed to as much as $720 (up from $695), and the 16 Pro jumped from $560 to $630 — a signal Apple wants people trading up, not just buying outright.

Should you buy now or wait?

If a Pro-tier iPhone is what you’re after, the discounted iPhone 17 Pro models floating around right now might be the best value play — you’re getting last year’s flagship at a real markdown, right as the newer, pricier models take over shelf space. If it’s the foldable you want, budget accordingly: this is shaping up to be the most expensive phone Apple has ever made.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 18 Pro lineup were expected to open around September 12, with phones hitting stores September 18. The foldable’s rollout timeline looked likely to lag behind the Pro models, possibly by weeks.

Some pricing and spec details above reflect pre-event reporting; official numbers from Apple may differ slightly once fully confirmed.