Apple Executes Unprecedented Price Hikes on Older iPhones in India: Costs Jump by Up to ₹65,000

In a move that deviates entirely from decades of smartphone release cycles, Apple has raised the official prices across its existing iPhone catalog following the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro series. Historically, Apple introduces price cuts of roughly ₹10,000 on previous-generation models when new flagships debut. Instead, the company has implemented substantial price hikes globally, severely impacting Indian consumers.

The revisions affect multiple storage configurations across the iPhone 16, iPhone 17 🏆, iPhone 17e, and the ultra-slim iPhone Air lineups. Concurrently, Apple has pulled the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max 🏆 from its official storefront to make room for the new models.

Breakdown of Key Revisions

The price increases create significant shifts across Apple’s portfolio, penalizing entry-level and luxury thin-and-light tiers the most:

• iPhone Air Reaches Luxury Brackets: The ultra-slim iPhone Air absorbed the steepest increases of the entire catalog. The baseline 256GB model jumped by ₹47,000, while the top-tier 1TB model received an unprecedented ₹65,000 price hike, catapulting its retail tag to ₹2,24,900.

• Entry-Tier Inflaton: The baseline iPhone 16 (128GB), previously serving as an accessible entry point at ₹69,900, has been inflated by ₹20,000, setting a new barrier to entry at ₹89,900.

• Mainstream iPhone 17 & 17e: The standard iPhone 17 now crosses the ₹1,00,000 threshold for its base 256GB model after a ₹17,000 adjustment, while its 512GB configuration climbed by ₹22,000. Even the entry-level iPhone 17e saw increases between ₹15,000 and ₹20,000 across its storage options.

Complete iPhone Price Revision Matrix

Retail Impact and Festive Sales Strategy

While Apple sets the benchmark price across its direct channels and Apple Store locations, third-party retail channels often deviate during major shopping events.

• Festive Timing: E-commerce platforms are preparing for the Flipkart Big Billion Days and Amazon Great Indian Festival sales later this month.

• Purchasing Advice: Consumers planning to purchase an iPhone should strictly avoid buying at Apple’s official storefront at these inflated prices. Third-party vendors and authorized retailers holding existing stock are expected to offer aggressive bank discounts and exchange bonuses, which could normalize pricing back toward original launch levels during the festive promotions.

PFD Context:

Raising prices on previous-generation hardware on the exact day new flagships launch is an extraordinary disruption to traditional tech economics. Typically, older models depreciate to capture lower budget tiers, but Apple appears to be doing the exact opposite: artificially inflating the baseline prices of older devices to make the incoming iPhone 18 Pro series look comparatively reasonable in price. A ₹65,000 price hike on the iPhone Air 1TB completely disconnects the phone from its original market segment, effectively converting it into an ultra-luxury niche device. This move also sets a high reference point ahead of India’s annual festive sales, allowing e-commerce giants to advertise seemingly massive “discounts” that merely bring these devices back down to what they originally cost a week ago.

Tags: Apple iPhone price hike India, iPhone 16 new price, iPhone 17 price increase, iPhone Air India price, tech news India 2026, Big Billion Days discounts