Bank of America predicts a major pricing shift for Apple

Apple has spent years trying to marque artificial quality a crushed for consumers to bargain caller devices.

That strategy has go much important arsenic rivals, including Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Meta, determination rapidly with consumer-facing AI tools.

For Apple, the accidental is clear. If AI makes the iPhone, iPad, and Mac much useful, it could assistance propulsion users to upgrade and springiness Apple's services concern different semipermanent maturation driver.

And astatine the caller Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2026, the institution launched respective caller upgrades, including updated Apple quality and a caller Siri AI, arsenic covered present by TheStreet.

But the aforesaid AI roar is creating problems for the iPhone maker.

The surge successful request for artificial quality infrastructure is pushing up the outgo of representation and retention chips, cardinal components successful phones, tablets, and computers. 

That means AI whitethorn not lone assistance Apple merchantability caller devices, but besides marque those devices much costly for shoppers.

Apple CEO Tim Cook precocious told the Wall Street Journal that the institution volition request to rise prices to offset rising representation costs.

Now Bank of America is weighing successful connected what that means for Apple stock.

Bank of America keeps bullish Apple banal view

In a June 18 enactment shared with TheStreet, Bank of America expert Wamsi Mohan reiterated his Buy standing connected Apple banal and kept a $380 terms target.

That people implies 28.4% upside from the $295.95 Apple stock terms utilized successful the note.

The telephone comes soon aft TheStreet reported that Goldman Sachs reset its Apple banal forecast aft WWDC, arsenic Wall Street weighed whether Apple's caller Siri AI and Apple Intelligence updates could enactment a stronger upgrade cycle.

More Apple:

• Goldman Sachs resets Apple banal forecast aft WWDC

• Apple answers Wall Street's biggest AI concern

• Morgan Stanley revamps Apple banal people aft cardinal event

However, Bank of America's latest enactment focuses connected a antithetic portion of the Apple story: pricing.

Mohan said Apple's pricing strategy is becoming the adjacent cardinal lever arsenic the institution tries to offset higher constituent costs without damaging demand.

"We had already expected Apple to rise pricing and had reflected astir a $100 terms summation successful our anterior estimates," Mohan wrote.

After Cook's comments and the continued emergence successful representation pricing, BofA present assumes an further $100 summation connected the Pro and Pro Max iPhone models.

The steadfast near its assumptions unchanged for the basal iPhone model. It besides near its iPhone Air mean selling terms presumption unchanged due to the fact that the exemplary already reflected a $100 terms increase.