Apple raised the Philippine prices of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17e, iPhone Air and iPhone 16 on September 10, one day after it announced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo. The new prices are live on Apple's Philippine online store, where the iPhone 17 now starts at ₱69,990 for 256GB, up ₱12,000 from the ₱57,990 it launched at in 2025. Every remaining model in Apple's lineup went up, with increases from ₱8,000 on the iPhone 16 to ₱30,000 on the 1TB iPhone Air.
This is the reverse of what usually happens in September. Older iPhones normally get cheaper when a new generation arrives; this year they got more expensive.
Old and new iPhone prices in the Philippines
| Model | Storage | Launch price | New price | Increase |
|---|
| iPhone 17 | 256GB | ₱57,990 | ₱69,990 | +₱12,000 (20.7%) |
| iPhone 17 | 512GB | ₱72,990 | ₱85,990 | +₱13,000 (17.8%) |
| iPhone 17e | 256GB | ₱44,990 | ₱54,990 | +₱10,000 (22.2%) |
| iPhone 17e | 512GB | ₱59,990 | ₱70,990 | +₱11,000 (18.3%) |
| iPhone Air | 256GB | ₱72,990 | ₱84,990 | +₱12,000 (16.4%) |
| iPhone Air | 512GB | ₱87,990 | ₱100,990 | +₱13,000 (14.8%) |
| iPhone Air | 1TB | ₱102,990 | ₱132,990 | +₱30,000 (29.1%) |
| iPhone 16 | 128GB | ₱54,990 | ₱62,990 | +₱8,000 (14.5%) |
New prices are taken from Apple's Philippine store pages for the iPhone 17e, iPhone Air and iPhone 16. Launch prices for the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air are Apple's September 2025 Philippine prices, as recorded by Top Gear Philippines; the iPhone 17e figures are its March 2026 launch prices listed by Pinoy Techno Guide; and the iPhone 16's ₱54,990 is its 2024 Philippine launch price as noted by REVU Philippines.
Model by model
iPhone 17. The phone that brought a 120Hz ProMotion display and dual 48MP cameras to the base model is now ₱69,990 for 256GB and ₱85,990 for 512GB. At ₱69,990 it sits ₱25,000 below the new iPhone 18 Pro's ₱94,990 starting price.
iPhone 17e. Launched in March at ₱44,990 as Apple's entry model, it now costs ₱54,990 — the largest percentage jump in the lineup at 22.2 percent. The 512GB model moves to ₱70,990.
iPhone Air. The thin model takes the biggest peso increase. Its 1TB configuration rises ₱30,000 to ₱132,990, while the 256GB and 512GB versions rise by ₱12,000 and ₱13,000.
iPhone 16. The two-year-old model is now ₱62,990 for 128GB — ₱8,000 more than its 2024 launch price, and ₱8,000 more than an iPhone 17e with double the storage.
Why prices went up
Apple has not published a statement explaining the change. Independent reporting points to the memory market. REVU Philippines attributes the hike to a global shortage of DRAM and NAND flash, as demand from AI data centers pushes component prices higher, and notes that the US market saw a flat $100 (around ₱6,300) increase across the same four models. In the Philippines the base-model increases run from ₱8,000 to ₱12,000 — larger than the US bump even after conversion.
The move was not a surprise to anyone following Apple's cost pressures. Memory had grown to about a third of the iPhone's build cost by August, as covered in our earlier report on the looming iPhone price hike, and REVU recalls that then-CEO Tim Cook warned in June that Apple could not keep absorbing rising component costs — a warning that preceded Mac and iPad price increases three months ago.
What this means if you were waiting for a discount
The usual September strategy — wait for the new iPhone, then buy last year's model at a lower price — does not work this year. Some practical points for Philippine buyers:
- Check retailer and telco stock first. Authorized resellers and carriers may still hold inventory bought at the old prices. REVU suggests checking them before the new official pricing fully takes over, and that window will not stay open long.
- The iPhone 17e remains the cheapest new iPhone at ₱54,990, still ₱15,000 below the iPhone 17.
- Compare against the iPhone 18 Pro. With the iPhone 17 at ₱69,990, the gap to the ₱94,990 iPhone 18 Pro has narrowed to ₱25,000. Apple's iPhone 18 Pro launch also confirmed there is no standard iPhone 18 this year, so the iPhone 17 stays the “regular” iPhone in the lineup for another year.
- Secondhand and trade-in values may follow. Higher new-unit prices typically lift resale prices, which affects trade-in offers as well as used-market deals.
As of publication, Apple's Philippine store shows the new prices on every affected model. Apple has given no indication that they will fall again once memory supply eases.
