Apple concentrates an 800,000-won Korean price rise at the 2TB end of the iPhone line

Both Pro models span 1.8 million won from cheapest to dearest, 2.19 to 3.99 on the Pro Max and 1.99 to 3.79 on the Pro ^[2][4][6]. Treat 2TB as 2,048 gigabytes and that spread prices the storage ladder at about 1,000 won a gigabyte ^[1]. The larger screen costs a flat 200,000 won at both ends of the ladder ^[2].

The 800,000-won jump is therefore a top-to-top comparison, 3.19 million won last year against 3.99 million now, which is 25.1 per cent ^[3][3]. The Pro's increases run 200,000 to 500,000 won depending on configuration ^[4]. The dollar list moves the same way: up to $500 more. If that full increment lands on the 2TB Pro Max at $2,499, the equivalent phone last year was $1,999 and the rise is 25 per cent ^[5][4]. That is close enough to the won figure to suggest the decision was taken on the dollar list and mirrored in Seoul. At the rate Sedaily used, 3.99 million won is about $2,880, some $381 above the American top-end list, or roughly 15 per cent, list against list ^[1][5].

The software the money is supposed to buy arrived late. Apple introduced Apple Intelligence at its developer conference in 2024, then development delays meant it did not ship with the iPhone 16 series. Consumers sued. Only with the iPhone 18 Pro has it been formally released ^[9]. Just the English version is running, with Korean support due in an additional update later this year ^[10]. The Wall Street Journal said on the 15th that Apple had finally built a smarter Siri but remained behind in the AI race, with agents such as Instinct and Muse drawing attention away from it ^[8]. Sedaily reported the Pro at 211 grams and the Pro Max at 249, heavier than their predecessors, with otherwise modest design and specification changes ^[13].

Europe is the harder case for the same price ladder. The EU holds that under the Digital Markets Act Apple must let competing AI services such as GPT offer iPhone functions comparable to Siri's. Apple has not fully accepted that, and the European launch schedule is unclear ^[11][12].

I think this is a storage decision before it is a feature decision. Apple sets the whole ladder. A 25 per cent increase at 2TB only reaches buyers who pick 2TB. The A20 Pro is rated the industry's most powerful processor, while the AI features meant to run on it trail Samsung ^[6][3]. The counter-thesis is the one the record cannot close. Sedaily reported list prices and did not report unit numbers. So if Korean demand sits at the 2.19 million won base tier, the 800,000-won figure never reaches a phone that ships in volume, and Apple's realised average selling price moves by a fraction of it ^[2][3]. On the evidence here, the claim that Apple is lifting average prices without a feature story to carry them is a claim about a price list.