Good news: Apple almost totally dodged inflation on the new iPhones, AirPods and Watches — bad news: the price of all other iPhones just got jacked up
So close, yet so far
by https://www.techradar.com/author/matt-bolton · TechRadarOpinion By Matt Bolton Published 9 September 2026
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Earlier this year, many Apple products (but not iPhones, AirPods or Watches) were hit with a huge set of price hikes. And then, more recently, Apple unveiled its new Mac mini range, which also comes at a 50% higher starting price than just five months before.
This left me (and probably a lot of other people) fearing the worst about the prices of the new stuff coming at Apple's September 2026 event.
But as we watched new products being announced that were the same price, or actually better value, than their predecessors, I felt like I was watching Neo dodging RAM-ageddon bullets… even though the iPhone 18 Pro price rose, it felt reasonable.
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But then, just like Neo, we got clipped and dropped to the ground by the fact that Apple quietly increased the price sof all its older phones following the event. Here's the new pricing for those models:
Swipe to scroll horizontally
| Model | New starting price | Old starting price |
| iPhone 17 | $899 / £899 | $799 / £799 |
| iPhone Air | $1,099 / £1,099 | $999 / £999 |
| iPhone 17e | $699 / £699 | $599 / £599 |
| iPhone 16 | $799 / £799 | $699 / £699 |
Let's run through how well we did in different areas in the US and UK prices (it may differ elsewhere, of course).
Swipe to scroll horizontally
| New product | Launch price | Comparison model | Launch price |
| Apple Watch Series 12 | $399 / £369 | Apple Watch Series 11 | $399 / £369 |
| Apple Watch Ultra Series 4 | $799 / £749 | Apple Watch Ultra Series 3 | $799 / £749 |
| AirPods 5 | $129 / £119 | AirPods 4 | $129 / £119 |
| AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case | $149 / £139 | AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation | $179 / $169 |
| iPhone 18 Pro | $1,199 / £1,199 | iPhone 17 Pro | $1,099 / £1,099 |
| iPhone 18 Pro Max | $1,299 / £1,299 | iPhone 17 Pro Max | $1,199 / £1,199 |
| iPhone Duo | $1,999 / £1,999 | Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra | $2,099 / £1,899 |
Apple Watch
A nice easy win here — we got new features across both the new regular model and the new Ultra, and we got them for the same price as the previous model. That's pretty great given the levels of inflation we're dealing with.
The only potentially offputting thing is Apple's slightly new always-listening Siri Recap option, now — but not the price, mercifully.
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