Apple CEO Tim Cook ratcheted up prices for the new iPhone series launched on Friday, but he says it’s not because of tariffs.
The base iPhone 17 saw a $100 price increase, though it comes with at least 128 GB more storage.
“There’s no increase for tariffs in the prices to be totally clear,” Cook told CNBC’s Jim Cramer. Cook later called the new series of iPhones a “huge leap.”
Industry analysts expected Apple to increase the price of new iPhones because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. But Apple, which had made a majority of its products in heavily tariffed China, changed its supply chain to include India and Vietnam.
Trump has pushed Cook to manufacture iPhones in the United States or else he’d enforce a 25% tariff on them.
“I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” the president posted on Truth Social in May. “If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S.”
The threat appeared to have failed, though the tech giant moved its manufacturing out of China. Cook instead pledged $600 billion in Apple investments within the U.S.
“We can’t be everywhere. I wish we could, but we are putting $600 billion to work in the next four years,” Cook told CNBC earlier this week, referencing the company’s investment toward building factories in the U.S.
Cook said the investments would bring jobs to the communities the factories are in.
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“That’s the ripple effect,” Cook said. “There will be more companies coming. It’s a domino effect kind of thing.”
As for the iPhone 17 series rollout, Cook is pleased with what the company has seen so far. “We are so happy with what we see. It’s early going, but we’re very happy,” he said.
