- Apple partnered Google for Siri’s AI, adding future costs.
iPhone 18 Leaks: Apple is heading into its Worldwide Developer Conference with attention fixed on iOS 27 and Apple Intelligence, both set to debut with the iPhone 18 Pro. While the phone’s launch price is expected to hold steady, the bigger financial story is what comes after purchase.
From rising component costs to cloud infrastructure expenses and a newly confirmed deal with Google, the total cost of owning an iPhone 18 Pro is quietly heading upward, even if the price tag on day one does not.
Why The iPhone 18 Pro Could End Up Costing You More Over Time
The headline price of the iPhone 18 Pro is expected to stay at $1,099, matching the iPhone 17 Pro. Apple is likely to absorb the higher bill of materials through its typically strong iPhone margins to secure early sales momentum.
But the cost pressures are real. Reduced supply and rising demand for memory and storage are affecting the broader consumer electronics market. A recent example: Valve raised the price of the Steam Deck by more than 40% to cover increased production costs.
Artificial intelligence is adding further strain, pushing up the specifications required from hardware and squeezing manufacturer margins across the industry.
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Apple Intelligence will also rely more heavily on cloud processing as features grow in complexity. Apple’s Private Cloud Compute is designed to protect user privacy, but running that infrastructure is not cheap. Apple may absorb those server costs early on, but will look to recover them across the life of the device.
Apple’s Deal With Google To Power Siri On The iPhone 18 Pro
In a significant development reported on Sunday, June 7, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman revealed in his Power On newsletter just how far Apple had fallen behind on artificial intelligence. While Google was building Gemini and embedding AI into Android, Apple’s leadership did not confront its internal AI problems until an executive meeting in March 2025.
Rather than rely entirely on its own technology, Apple turned to Google. According to Gurman’s reporting:
“Rockwell, along with Federighi and Cue, was also able to execute a deal with Google to replace the underlying models and cloud computing systems powering Siri with Gemini and Google Cloud technology. That came after an investigation into using third-party solutions that Rockwell kicked off immediately after taking the new job.”
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That arrangement carries a cost that Apple will be unlikely to absorb indefinitely. Since Apple will not want to subsidise its users being routed through Google’s infrastructure, the financial burden could eventually find its way back to consumers.
