Apple has raised iPhone prices in Japan by about 10% on its official store. The standard iPhone 17 now starts at 142,800 yen, reflecting a weaker currency and soaring memory costs. Prices for the smartphone lineup in the United States remain unchanged.
The price adjustment highlights the ongoing slide of the Japanese yen against the dollar. The exchange rate recently weakened past 162 yen per dollar, representing a drop of more than 10 yen over the past year. To protect its profit margins, the tech giant had to pass these currency conversion losses down to local consumers.
Under the revised pricing, the base iPhone 17 has climbed by 13,000 yen. The premium iPhone 17 Pro Max saw a steeper increase of 20,000 yen, bringing its new retail price to 214,800 yen. Even the budget tier model, the iPhone 17e, has now crossed the 100,000 yen mark.
Soaring component expenses are also playing a major part in this shift. Apple previously bumped prices for Mac computers and iPad tablets by 20% to 30% because of escalating silicon fees. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook confirmed in a Wall Street Journal interview that rising hardware fees left the company with no choice
. According to Cook, product price increases became inevitable
because of memory pricing pressure.
