iPhone 18 said to launch in 6 months, how much it may cost in India

Apple's next standard iPhone is rumoured to be around six months away, but there is already a big question hanging over its launch - how much will it cost? The company has increased the prices of several products this year, including the iPhone 17 and the new iPhone 18 Pro models. This makes it difficult to expect the upcoming iPhone 18 to arrive at an affordable price, especially in India, where its predecessor now costs almost Rs 1 lakh.The iPhone 17 launched in India at Rs 79,900. Its official price has since increased to Rs 99,900, a jump of Rs 20,000. Buyers could earlier find it for considerably less on online platforms such as Flipkart during sales and bank offers. But with the official price now so close to Rs 1 lakh, the next model could face a tough pricing decision.iPhone 18 India price: How much it may costApple has not announced the India price of the iPhone 18, so any figure at this stage would be an estimate. However, the latest price changes offer some clues.The iPhone 18 Pro models have also become more expensive, with reported price increases of around Rs 30,000. Apple has been facing rising component costs, and the company has indicated that absorbing these increases is becoming difficult. If even its premium models are getting costlier, it would be optimistic to assume that the standard iPhone 18 will escape a price hike. The iPhone 17's revised price is another reason to be cautious. If Apple continues to sell the current model at Rs 99,900, it may have little room to increase the price of the iPhone 18 without pushing its standard model beyond the Rs 1 lakh mark.My expectation is that Apple could price the iPhone 18 at around Rs 99,900 in India, or slightly lower if it wants to keep the phone attractive to buyers. This is not a confirmed price, and the final figure will depend on Apple's pricing strategy and component costs. There is also a reason for Apple to be careful. Nikkei Asia has reported that Apple asked suppliers to reduce production of components for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max by up to 15 per cent amid weaker demand. If consumers are becoming more cautious about spending on expensive phones, Apple may not want its standard model to become even harder to afford. However, the impact of that report on the standard iPhone 18's pricing remains unclear.What features can you expect?If Apple sticks to its reported plans, the iPhone 18 may look familiar from the outside, with most of the changes happening inside the phone. The standard model is tipped to retain a 6.3-inch display.The bigger upgrade could come from the processor. Apple is reportedly preparing its A20 chip using a 2-nanometre manufacturing process, down from the 3-nanometre process used for the A19 series. This could help the iPhone 18 deliver better performance while using less power, potentially improving battery life. However, the actual gains will only become clear once the phone is tested.Memory is another area where reports disagree. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects the iPhone 18 to feature 9GB of RAM, while Jeff Pu has reportedly tipped 12GB. This difference could affect which Apple Intelligence features the phone supports. According to the reported requirements, certain Siri voice customisation options and improvements to speech-to-text dictation need at least 12GB of RAM because the processing happens on the device.Apple is also said to be working on a brighter display for the standard iPhone 18. One supplier has reportedly struggled to meet the company's demanding brightness requirements, although the final specifications remain unknown. The phone could also get a smaller Dynamic Island, similar to the one rumoured for the iPhone 18 Pro models. This change, however, is not confirmed.Connectivity could receive an upgrade as well. The iPhone 18 is expected to use Apple's C2 modem, which is also tipped for other upcoming iPhone models. Details about its real-world performance and the improvements it could bring are not yet available.Taken together, these leaks point towards an iPhone that may focus more on processing power, battery efficiency and AI features than on a dramatic redesign. Whether those changes will be enough to convince buyers to spend close to Rs 1 lakh remains to be seen.- Ends