Why phones cost more in 2026: every price increase so far

On October 15, 2026, fourteen phones we track had a higher regular price on their maker's US store than when they launched. Most went up by a hundred dollars. Every big maker we track except Nothing raised at least one price: Apple, Google, Samsung and Motorola. The reason the makers and analysts give is memory chips. Apple's CEO called it "a 100-year flood on memory pricing," Samsung blamed "component cost pressures across the industry" for a quarterly loss in its mobile and networks business, and Nothing's co-founder said his company's prices would rise because of memory costs. Google and Motorola raised prices without saying why.

Every increase, phone by phone

The table compares the launch price with the regular price on the maker's US store on October 15, 2026. Sales are listed separately below the table.

A few notes on reading it:

• iPhone 17. The $899 price includes Apple's $30 discount for activating the phone with AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon. Bought unlocked without activation, it's $929.
• Sales on October 15. Three of these phones had temporary discounts that day. Motorola had the moto g play on sale for $199.99 and the moto g for $249.99, and Samsung had the Galaxy A27 5G at $304.99. Those are sales on top of a higher regular price, not a return to the launch price.
• iPhone 16. It isn't in the table because it's back at its $799 launch price. According to 9to5Mac, the same increase Apple applied to the iPhone 17 and 17e also applied to the iPhone 16, which Apple had been selling for less.

When the prices went up

Motorola, April 2026. The moto g play, moto g and moto g power went up right after the moto g stylus launched, 9to5Google reported on April 8. The article notes that "Motorola has yet to confirm why."

Apple, September 9, 2026. On the day Apple announced the iPhone 18 Pro, it raised the iPhone Air, 17 and 17e by a hundred dollars each, 9to5Mac reported. The new iPhone 18 Pro ($1,199) and 18 Pro Max ($1,299) are still at their launch prices.

Samsung, around October 1, 2026. The Galaxy S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra went up by a hundred dollars seven months after going on sale, according to The Next Web. The Galaxy S26 FE, which launched in September, wasn't affected. Samsung's Galaxy A models also cost more than at launch, but we don't have a date for those changes.

Google, around October 2, 2026. The Pixel 10a went from $499 to $599 for the 128GB model. Droid Life noted that "Google didn't make an announcement for this change." Google's newer Pixel 11 phones are still at their launch prices.

Not every price moved up. Nothing's Phone (3) went from $799 at launch to $699. Motorola's edge 2026 and razr fold kept their launch list prices of $599.99 and $1,899.99, and both were on sale on October 15.

Why: memory chips

The research firm Counterpoint described the trend in a June 2026 note: "Since the start of 2026, OEMs in the US market have begun to raise the retail prices of smartphones in an effort to combat the growing effects of high memory costs caused by the AI data center boom." At that point, it said, Samsung and Motorola had raised prices on key models and Apple hadn't, "though increases could occur for the iPhone 18 launch." That is what happened in September.

What the makers themselves have said:

• Apple. On Apple's July 30, 2026 earnings call, Tim Cook said "we reluctantly raised prices" and described "a 100-year flood on memory pricing with exponential increases in memory prices," MacRumors reported. He was talking about Macs and iPads, which Apple had raised in June. Apple gave no reason when it raised iPhone prices in September. 9to5Mac's own explanation was "rising component pricing like RAM and storage."
• Samsung. In its second-quarter 2026 results, Samsung said revenue in its mobile and networks business grew on Galaxy S26 and Galaxy A sales, but earnings fell because of higher "component cost pressures across the industry," and the business posted an operating loss for the quarter. In the same report, its memory chip business set a record, helped by "the continued industry-wide upward trend of prices." Samsung makes memory as well as phones, so it sees both sides of this.
• Nothing. In January 2026, co-founder Carl Pei pointed to estimates that memory modules for top-tier phones, which "cost less than $20 a year ago," could cost more than five times that by the end of the year, and said that Nothing's prices would "inevitably" rise, as 9to5Google reported.
• Google and Motorola. Neither has explained its increases.

What it means if you're buying now

Check the maker's price on the day you buy. Reviews written at launch quote launch prices, and for the phones above those are now too low by up to a hundred dollars. Our budget picks and midrange picks use the makers' October 15 prices. The Pixel 10a, for example, launched at $499 and now costs more than our midrange list allows.

A price rise doesn't add years of updates. The Galaxy A17 5G now costs $70 more than at launch, and its security updates still end in August 2031. Our guide to how long phones get updates has the end date for every phone in this table.

Older models held their prices, but they have less support left. Samsung still sells the Galaxy S25 Ultra at its $1,299.99 launch price, the same as the S26 Ultra's launch price, but its security updates end in January 2032, a year before the S26 Ultra's. Our Galaxy S26 overview weighs the newer model at its higher price.

Look at sales, but read them as sales. On October 15, Motorola and Samsung had discounts running on several phones in the table. A sale is temporary, and when it ends the price goes back to the higher regular price, not to the launch price.

On future prices, we only know what the sources say. Counterpoint wrote in June that "further price hikes are expected throughout the year." Samsung said in July that its phone business would "pursue efficiency initiatives to mitigate the impact of rising costs." Neither gives a number, and we won't guess one.