New iPhone 18 Pro Could Cost South Africans More Than A Month’s Take-Home Pay

South Africans earning the average monthly salary would need to devote more than a month’s take-home pay to purchase the cheapest listed iPhone 18 Pro, highlighting the cost of premium smartphones relative to household incomes.

The entry-level 256GB model was listed on Amazon.co.za for R28,199 at the time of reporting, while most other retailers were selling it for approximately R28,799.

According to the PayInc Net Salary Index, the average South African employee earned R21,622 after deductions in August 2026. That leaves a R6,577 gap between average monthly take-home pay and the phone’s lowest reported cash price.

The device therefore costs approximately 130% of the average employee’s monthly net salary. Compared with average gross earnings for the same month, its price amounts to about 86%, according to the figures supplied.

The calculations assume that the average employee could devote all their earnings to buying the phone. In practice, workers must also cover essential expenses such as housing, food, transport and electricity.

Buying The Phone Could Require Months Of Saving

Based on the reported price of R28,199, a worker earning R21,622 a month would need approximately 28.7 working days’ worth of net earnings to cover the purchase, assuming 22 working days per month.

Saving a portion of their salary would extend the time required.

A person setting aside 10% of their monthly take-home pay would save R2,162.20 each month and need approximately 13 months to afford the device, assuming the price remained unchanged and no savings interest was earned.

To purchase it within 12 months, the required monthly contribution would be about R2,350, equivalent to approximately 10.9% of the average net salary.

The figures illustrate the financial commitment involved in buying a premium smartphone outright. They do not account for changes in retail prices, unexpected expenses or the returns that savings might earn.

The phone’s pricing also comes amid a change to Apple’s usual launch approach. According to the supplied report, the company introduced its iPhone 18 Pro models earlier in September without releasing a standard, non-Pro version alongside them. A more affordable base model was expected in early 2027.

That leaves the Pro variant as the most affordable new model in the reported line-up for the time being.

Three-Year Contracts Can Raise The Total Cost

For consumers unable to pay the full amount upfront, a mobile contract offers another route to ownership. However, the lowest reported contract price can result in a substantially higher total payment.

Vodacom’s most affordable listed iPhone 18 Pro contract was reported at R1,299 a month over 36 months.

At that rate, the total cost of the monthly payments would reach R46,764, which is R18,565 more than the R28,199 cash price. The contract also includes 5GB of mobile data each month.

The comparison suggests that consumers should assess the full contract cost rather than focusing solely on the monthly instalment.

The supplied analysis estimates that purchasing an equivalent amount of data through prepaid services on major South African networks would cost about R3,546 over the same period. On that basis, the included data would not account for the entire difference between the contract and cash prices.

The comparison does not establish that every prepaid arrangement would suit every consumer. Actual savings would depend on data requirements, network coverage, prepaid rates and any additional services included in a contract.

The report also points to a more expensive example: the 2TB iPhone 18 Pro Max could cost as much as R89,964 on a 36-month contract, according to a separate MyBroadband report linked in the supplied material.

These figures reinforce the importance of comparing the total cost of ownership across payment options before signing a long-term agreement.

Prepaid Options Challenge Traditional Phone Contracts

The supplied report notes that buying a handset separately and using prepaid mobile services can, in some cases, be cheaper than taking out a conventional contract.

One alternative is to purchase a phone using a credit card’s budget facility and then pay separately for airtime, data, SMSs and voice calls. However, consumers would need to consider any interest, fees and repayment terms attached to the credit facility before deciding whether this approach offers savings.

Telkom has previously acknowledged, according to the supplied material, that separate handset repayments combined with prepaid bundles can sometimes provide the lowest overall cost.

The report also describes changes in the economics of mobile contracts. Historically, network operators could subsidise handset prices and recover costs through customers’ spending on calls and data over the contract period.

That model has become less viable as traditional voice calls have lost popularity to internet-based messaging services such as WhatsApp, while falling mobile data costs have reduced the effective price consumers pay per megabyte.

For consumers considering a premium smartphone, the central question is therefore not only whether the monthly payment is affordable, but how much the device and associated services will cost over the full repayment period.

Comparing the cash price, contract total, prepaid data requirements and credit costs can help buyers determine which option best fits their budget.