With Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro lineup just weeks away from launch, a new report suggests buyers could face trouble getting one right away. According to semiconductor analyst Tim Culpan (via 9to5Mac), a DRAM shortage is holding up production and could leave Apple short on inventory following the launch.
TSMC is reportedly sitting on $1 billion in stalled chips
The iPhone 18 Pro is expected to pack Apple’s new A20 Pro chip. It’s the first processor built on TSMC’s new 2nm process. Culpan says that while chip fabrication itself is proceeding well, with strong volume and yields, TSMC is sitting on wafers of finished A20 Pro chips that can’t move forward because the company is still waiting on DRAM.
Culpan explains that the processor gets packaged with its memory using a new method called Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module, which fuses the chip and memory onto the same wafer. That step can’t happen until the DRAM arrives. He estimates the pileup is now worth around $1 billion. Apple and its assembly partners are reportedly confident they’ll meet initial demand, though they’re bracing for online orders to slip and retail stock to run out quickly after the first batch.
Fewer alternatives could make the shortage worse
Apple reportedly isn’t launching a new base iPhone 18 model this fall, with that phone pushed to spring 2027 as part of a split launch strategy. A second-generation iPhone Air isn’t expected until then either. That leaves the pricey foldable iPhone Ultra as the only other new iPhone debuting alongside the Pro models this fall, which could push even more shoppers toward the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
Apple has weathered supply crunches before, but rarely with this little cushion. The iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro both sold out during last year’s preorders, pushing some deliveries into October. This year’s thinner lineup leaves Apple fewer places to absorb the strain. Buyers hoping for a launch-day iPhone 18 Pro should place their orders as soon as the preorder window opens.
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