For decades, Apple's annual iPhone launch carried an unspoken promise: patience would be rewarded with a discount. This week, that promise was quietly retired. Alongside the debut of the iPhone 18 lineup, Apple raised prices on every older model still in its catalog — some returning to their original launch prices, others surpassing them — signaling that the company's traditional product ladder, designed to welcome budget-conscious buyers into its ecosystem, may no longer serve the same purpose it once did. With record profits, surging AI-driven chip costs, and no apparent market pressure to r