Above: The Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park, Cupertino, in 2018. (Photo: Justin Ormont (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons)
Apple has told some of its suppliers to cut production of components for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, according to an exclusive from Nikkei Asia published on 9 October 2026. Nikkei's account is that this followed "soaring memory chip costs forced price increases that have dampened consumer demand". This is a report of what Apple has told its suppliers, not something Apple has announced.
What Nikkei reports
Nikkei's reporters, Lauly Li and Cheng Ting-fang, say suppliers blame the premium handsets' price rise for weaker consumer uptake. The phones were launched in September.
The detail on scale comes through Reuters and MacRumors, both relaying Nikkei. Reuters says Nikkei reported that Apple has turned more conservative on shipments since early September. Nikkei, citing multiple people familiar with the matter, said component orders for October were being slashed by at least 15% compared with what was originally requested. MacRumors, citing the same Nikkei report, describes the figure the same way: orders cut by at least 15 percent from the original request.
Where this stands
Reuters said it "could not immediately verify the report", and that Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. The percentage and the "conservative" stance come from Nikkei's unnamed sources, relayed by Reuters and MacRumors. That makes this a reported supply-chain move rather than a confirmed one.
The price and the memory squeeze
The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 and the Pro Max at $1,299. Reuters says that is $100 more than the starting prices of the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.
Reuters ties the pricing to a wider squeeze. It says tech companies have been buying up advanced chip-making capacity and memory chips to power AI data centres, causing shortages and price increases that are expected to shrink both the PC and smartphone markets this year. It also reports that Apple raised iPad and MacBook prices in June, saying it could no longer shield customers from soaring memory and storage chip costs driven by the AI industry's data-centre buildout. MacRumors adds that Apple has publicly blamed AI-driven memory chip costs for recent price increases across its lineup.
A second possible factor
Nikkei does not attribute the softer demand to price alone. Reuters reports Nikkei saying demand for devices has been softer from late August into October, but that this could be related to Apple changing its launch schedule for iPhone models. MacRumors describes the change as a split launch: Apple is expected to release the regular iPhone 18 in spring 2027, alongside the lower-cost iPhone 18e and the ultra-thin iPhone Air 2, rather than announcing the whole range at once.
MacRumors also notes that the iPhone 18 Pro models have 12GB of RAM, the same as the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. It adds that one rumour holds Apple originally planned 16GB, and may have decided against it because of the cost. That is a rumour, and Reuters' report does not mention it.
What it adds up to
On the evidence so far, the direct account is Nikkei's, and Apple has not confirmed it in the coverage reviewed. Nikkei points to price as a factor in the weaker demand, and also to the launch-schedule change as a possible one. How far each contributed is not established.
Sources
Hardwick, T. (2026) 'Apple Reportedly Cuts iPhone 18 Pro Orders After Price Hike Dampens Demand', MacRumors, 9 October 2026, available at: https://www.macrumors.com/2026/10/09/apple-cuts-iphone-18-pro-orders-price-demand/ (Accessed: 9 October 2026).
Li, L. and Cheng, T.-F. (2026) 'Exclusive: Apple cuts iPhone 18 Pro orders due to soft demand', Nikkei Asia, 9 October 2026, available at: https://asia.nikkei.com/business/technology/exclusive-apple-cuts-iphone-18-pro-orders-due-to-soft-demand (Accessed: 9 October 2026).
Abraham, R.R. and Khushi, A. (2026) 'Apple cuts iPhone 18 Pro orders due to soft demand, Nikkei Asia reports', Reuters, via KSL.com, 9 October 2026, available at: https://www.ksl.com/article/51634306/apple-cuts-iphone-18-pro-orders-due-to-soft-demand-nikkei-asia-reports (Accessed: 9 October 2026).