CUPERTINO GETS US CUSTOMERS USED TO THE IDEA OF US$2,000 IPHONES

When Apple launched the iPhone X in 2017, the company did more than usher in facial recognition and a sleek edge-to-edge screen. It also helped establish a new category - the US$1,000 smartphone.

- STORY: MARK GURMAN / BLOOMBERG

In the eight years since, that price point has barely budged. Despite inflation and a steady stream of technological upgrades, the iPhone 17 Pro now starts at $1,099 in the United States — just $100 more. In America, Apple's entry-level iPhone sits at $799, also only $100 higher than the comparable model back in 2017.

Ahead of this week's iPhone 17 debut, some analysts predicted hefty price hikes - especially with President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports looming. Yet Apple's changes were measured. The Pro models did climb from $999 to $1,099, but Apple softened the blow by doubling the base amount of storage to 256GB.