Apple sells seven iPhones as of today, and the price ladder runs from $699 to $1,999. The $699 iPhone 17e is the cheapest way in, the $1,199 iPhone 18 Pro is the model most people asking this question end up buying, and the $1,999 iPhone Duo is the only one that does not arrive until Friday, October 23.
The shape of the lineup changed on September 9. Apple discontinued the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, removed the iPhone 16 Plus, and each of the four older models it kept is now listed $100 higher than it was the day before. Apple did not announce that increase, so the figures below are simply what its Store pages list today.
Every iPhone Apple sells, and what it costs
| Model | Apple’s price now | Chip | In stores |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 17e | $699 | A19 | On sale now |
| iPhone 16 | $799 | A18 | On sale now |
| iPhone 17 | $899 | A19 | On sale now |
| iPhone Air | $1,099 | A19 Pro | On sale now |
| iPhone 18 Pro | $1,199 | A20 Pro | Friday, September 18 |
| iPhone 18 Pro Max | $1,299 | A20 Pro | Friday, September 18 |
| iPhone Duo | $1,999 | A20 Pro | Friday, October 23 |
Those are starting prices. iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max and Duo start at 256GB and climb to 2TB, iPhone Air stops at 1TB and iPhone 17 at 512GB. Every model in the table runs iOS 27 and the full Apple Intelligence feature set, so the cheapest phone here is not a compromise on software.
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The price ladder, and what each step buys
| Step up | Extra cost | What the money buys |
|---|---|---|
| 17e to iPhone 16 | $100 | An older chip generation, A18 rather than A19. The one step that buys less silicon |
| iPhone 16 to iPhone 17 | $100 | 6.3-inch ProMotion display up to 120Hz, 48MP main plus 48MP ultra wide, up to 30 hours of video |
| iPhone 17 to iPhone Air | $200 | 6.5 inches, 165 g, a 5.64 mm titanium body, at the cost of the ultra wide and six hours of video |
| iPhone Air to 18 Pro | $100 | A20 Pro, variable aperture f/1.48 to f/4, the 4x tetraprism telephoto, 36 hours of video, USB 3 at 10 Gb/s |
| 18 Pro to 18 Pro Max | $100 | 6.9 inches instead of 6.3, up to 45 hours of video instead of 36, and 38 g more to carry |
| 18 Pro Max to Duo | $700 | A 7.6-inch folding inner display, a 5.4-inch outer one, Touch ID in place of Face ID, no telephoto, a five-week wait |
Read down that column and the strongest single step is the $100 from iPhone Air to iPhone 18 Pro. It is the only step that adds a chip generation, a telephoto lens, a faster USB port and nine hours of video playback at once.
Pick by the thing you actually do
- Longest battery: iPhone 18 Pro Max, rated by Apple at up to 45 hours of video playback and 30 hours of typical use.
- Most reach: only iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max carry the 48MP 4x tetraprism at 100 mm and the 8x optical-quality 200 mm crop. Every other iPhone stops at a 2x crop.
- Lightest: iPhone Air at 165 g and 5.64 mm thick. Biggest screen: the Duo’s 7.6-inch inner display, which Apple says is 50 percent larger than the Pro Max display.
- Fastest transfers: USB 3 at 10 Gb/s on iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max and Duo. iPhone 17 and iPhone Air are USB 2 at 480 Mb/s.
- Smallest bill: iPhone 17e at $699, with the same iOS 27 and Apple Intelligence support as the $1,999 foldable.
The models that left the lineup
If your plan was to buy last year’s Pro at a discount, that plan no longer works. Apple has stopped selling the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max outright, and iPhone 16 Plus is gone from the lineup as well. Apple Certified Refurbished did not stock any iPhone 17 generation model as of September 10; the newest refurbished iPhone recorded there was a 512GB iPhone 16 at $909.
That leaves trade-in as the main lever. Apple publishes a range rather than a table: an iPhone 13 or later earns $175 to $885 in credit, applied instantly at checkout. Our breakdown of the $100 increase covers how the ladder moved.
Dates that decide when you can buy
Pre-orders for iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max open on Saturday, September 12 at 5 a.m. PT, with both in stores on Friday, September 18 in more than 65 countries and regions and 20 more on Friday, September 25.
iPhone Duo runs a month behind: pre-orders on Friday, October 16 at 5 a.m. PT, availability on Friday, October 23 in more than 70 countries, and 28 further countries and regions on Friday, October 30. The four older iPhones are on sale today, and iOS 27 arrives free for all of them on Monday, September 14.
What has not been confirmed
Apple has not published per-device AppleCare+ prices for any September 2026 product. Verizon has published no iPhone 18 Pro offer at all, and the $350, $930 and $1,200 carrier credit tiers appear only in Apple’s footnotes rather than on any carrier site. Apple publishes nothing about stock levels either, so no one can tell you which configuration runs out first. Full spec sheets for iPhone 17e and iPhone 16 were not part of this launch’s published material, so their rows above cover price, chip and software support only. Our Duo against Pro Max comparison covers the top of the ladder in detail.
The next decision point is Saturday, September 12 at 5 a.m. PT, six days before the phones reach stores. Anyone still weighing the foldable has until Friday, October 16.
