Apple pushes 20% OLED panel price cut for iPhone 18 Pro Max

Apple is negotiating with its OLED suppliers, Samsung Display and LG Display, to lower the cost of the panels used in the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro Max. The company has floated a target price of roughly $70 per panel, with industry sources saying the final agreement could be around $66.5 per unit – a reduction of about 20 % compared with the price paid for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The new panels will use Samsung’s M16 OLED material, which promises higher brightness, longer lifespan and improved colour accuracy.

Samsung is expected to supply roughly 46 million OLED panels for the iPhone 18 family, including about 26 million for the Pro Max, while LG Display could provide around 41 million panels, with about 21 million earmarked for the Pro Max. The price cut is intended to offset rising costs in memory, chips and other components, even as Apple is believed to be planning a $100‑$200 price increase for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models.

The negotiations are part of a broader industry trend to curb component costs amid “chip‑flation” driven by AI‑related demand. A successful discount would give Apple additional margin flexibility for the 2026 iPhone launch.