10 changes take effect on August 1: from LPG prices to rules for banks and railways

The iPhone 18 Pro may face a significant price increase, potentially reaching US$ 300, which would raise its value to US$ 1,399 in the United States. This potential historic adjustment by Apple is being driven by rising manufacturing costs.

The launch of the iPhone 18 Pro is scheduled for September 2026. With a projected increase of up to US$ 300 (equivalent to about R$ 1,521 at the current exchange rate), the initial price of the device in the US would rise to US$ 1,399, or R$ 7,093. Signs that the new generation would be more expensive had already emerged the previous month, when Apple itself warned about the increasing cost of manufacturing its products.

New information, brought by sources and data from analyst Jeff Pu, accessed via the website 9to5Mac, suggests that the price increase will also affect the Pro Max model. This larger screen device could reach US$ 1,499 (approximately R$ 7,600) in its most basic storage configuration.

Why will the iPhone 18 Pro cost more?

The jump in the final product price is directly linked to the higher costs of the components used. These include the unprecedented A20 Pro processor, LPDDR5X standard RAM, and NAND type internal storage. The values of these technologies have seen a sharp rise in the semiconductor market.

The acquisition of memory and storage alone represents a cost that is about three times higher in this cycle compared to last year. Furthermore, manufacturing costs include improvements to the photography system, as the new camera array would increase internal factory expenses even before the item is packaged.

What to expect regarding prices in Brazil?

While the US$ 300 increase may be concerning for American consumers, the impact on the Brazilian market is expected to be even more pronounced. For reference, the current generation shows that the iPhone 17 Pro was launched with an official price of R$ 11,499 in the base version, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max started from R$ 12,499 in stores.

If the US$ 300 increase materializes and is applied to the conversion rate used by the manufacturer in Brazil, the increase is estimated to be around R$ 3,000. This would bring the iPhone 18 Pro close to R$ 14,499, and the iPhone 18 Pro Max would be in the range of R$ 15,499, making it the most expensive generation ever sold in the country.

Apple is unlikely to absorb the costs

Currently, the smartphone industry faces an unprecedented scenario regarding component costs. Although Apple had the possibility of decreasing its own profit margins to keep prices stable for the public, experts consider this chance practically nonexistent.

The adjustments observed in other Apple products clearly demonstrate that the adopted strategy is to pass the burden of inflation directly onto consumers.

GST collections increased by 15.4% in July, reaching 2.11 lakh crore rupees. This amount was the second largest figure since the introduction of the new structure last September. The growth was driven by a 29% increase in Integrated GST (IGST) on imports, which was also the highest growth rate since the rationalization of rates.

M.S. Mani, partner at Deloitte India, noted that the stable monthly growth in GST collections indicates that overall domestic demand is largely protected from seasonal fluctuations and external negative factors.

Saurabh Agarwal, partner at the consulting firm EY India, suggested that sustained policy promotion towards localizing about 100 products over a certain period will help bridge this gap.

India and China have resumed traditional border trade on Saturday through the Lipulekh pass in Uttarakhand state and Shipki La in Himachal Pradesh state. These two key Himalayan trade routes had been closed for nearly six years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the Pitorgarh area of Uttarakhand state, at the Lipulekh point, the first group of 16 traders and four support staff crossed into Tibet without goods, marking the start of the resumption of trade operations. Chinese authorities initially limited the group to 20 people, citing infrastructure issues at the Tacheng market, and required advance submission of detailed personal information for all traders. Furthermore, they requested priority be given to those who participated in the last trading season in 2019.

In accordance with this requirement, the traders' association selected those whose goods were stuck in Tacheng after the suspension of trade in 2020. Ashish Joshi, SDM and district trade officer, noted: 'Priority was given to traders who participated in the 2019 trading season and left their goods in Tacheng.'

Meanwhile, in Himachal Pradesh, Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi accompanied the first batch of 16 Indian traders traveling by horseback to the village of Shipki in Tibet via the 3930-meter high Shipki La pass. The trade, which was halted in 2020 due to Covid, was scheduled to resume on June 1st but was postponed due to security concerns and insufficient infrastructure at the trading point.

Trade through Shipki La, which will be open until November 30th, will continue under the traditional barter system. Indian traders are allowed to stay abroad for up to 72 hours, while local administration approved 53 traders after background checks. Indian traders are permitted to export 36 categories of goods, including dried fruits, spices, handicrafts, and herbs, and Chinese traders can import 20 categories of goods such as pashmina, wool, barley skin, fur, and Chinese clay. Officials reported that the total list includes 72 categories of goods subject to trade from India and 30 from China.

Negi also opened the Chuppan trading market worth 1.7 crore rupees in Namgya village, Pu subdivision, near the international border, to promote cross-border trade. In response to local traders' requests to expand the list of tradable goods, Negi stated that this proposal would be presented to Prime Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and the Ministry of External Affairs.