Apple has asked some suppliers to cut October component orders for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max by at least 15% from the original request (Nikkei Asia). The phones are already on sale. The Pro starts at $1,199 and the Pro Max at $1,299, $100 over the prior Pro generation, and Apple has publicly blamed AI-driven memory chip costs for recent increases on MacBooks, iPads, and iPhones (MacRumors).
"In October alone, we are seeing orders from Apple reducing by 15% to 20% for both the premium models; we don't know how things would develop from here," a supplier executive said. Since early September, Apple has been more cautious on shipments as those memory costs rose, and this October revision is the cut suppliers can already measure. Lead times decide which suppliers feel it this month. Whether orders move again from November is still open. What you have is a revision to parts Apple already asked for, while the Pros stay on sale.
The split launch is only half the explanation
Softer demand from late August through October lines up partly with a changed calendar. The regular iPhone 18, the lower-cost iPhone 18e, and the iPhone Air 2 are expected in spring 2027. The Pro and Pro Max launched in September, and they're the models on sale this fall. Apple hasn't confirmed that spring timing. A supply-chain manager said demand isn't as strong as in years when the new models showed up together, and that the split still leaves part of the slowdown unexplained.
When the new models arrived together, the cheaper phones were in that same launch. This fall the regular iPhone 18, the 18e, and the Air 2 are still a spring expectation, and the Pros are on sale alone. You can be waiting on one of those and still be looking at a $1,199 Pro if you need a phone this month. The order cut leaves that sticker where it is.
Suppliers are blaming the price hike for the cooler uptake. Because each Pro costs more, a softer run of orders can sit beside revenue that holds up for a while. Stores can look stocked while the revision works through the suppliers whose lead times allow an October change.
If you're shopping a Pro now, the supplier trim is Apple's order book. Check the price you can actually pay, carrier promo included, and decide whether that extra $100 is worth it while the other models are still expected in the spring.
Photo: メイド理世 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
