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| It turns out that not even the presidency grants immunity to RAM and storage price hikes (the Trump T1, pictured) |
Trump Mobile has quietly raised the price of its T1 Phone from $499 to $749, updating its website without issuing any formal statement about the $250 jump.
The T1 Phone originally launched in June following a delayed rollout, debuting at $499. At its new $749 price point, the device now costs 50 percent more than it did at launch — placing it above phones like the iPhone 17e, despite the fact that nothing has changed internally.
What's Actually Inside the T1 Phone?
An iFixit teardown revealed that the T1's internal components are nearly identical to those of the HTC U24 Pro, a midrange Android device from 2024. Aside from some cosmetic adjustments and a different battery, the hardware is essentially the same.
That makes the price hike even more striking. The T1 Phone runs Android 15 on a Snapdragon 7-series platform and features a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 50MP main camera paired with an 8MP ultrawide and a 50MP 2X telephoto lens, a 50MP front-facing camera, a 5000mAh battery with 30W fast charging, and 512GB of internal storage. It also includes a fingerprint sensor and AI-powered Face Unlock.
Those are respectable midrange specs — but they haven't changed since launch, which makes the $250 increase hard to justify on hardware alone.
The Memory Chip Crunch Is Hitting Everyone
It turns out that even a phone carrying "Proudly American" branding isn't protected from the ongoing memory chip shortage. DRAM and NAND prices have been rising across the industry, and Apple recently raised prices on several product lines as well.
Earlier this month, Apple added roughly $100 to older iPhone models still sold alongside the iPhone 17 lineup. That came after previous price increases on iPads, MacBooks, and the Mac Studio. Other phone and PC manufacturers have also signaled that additional price hikes are coming as memory contracts get renewed.
In other words, the T1 Phone's price increase isn't happening in a vacuum — but Trump Mobile's silence about it is notable.
No Explanation From Trump Mobile
Unlike Apple, which at least acknowledged its pricing adjustments, Trump Mobile hasn't publicly explained the change. There was no press release, no blog post, no social media announcement — just a quiet website update that bumped the price by $250.
The T1 Phone is available now to interested buyers at trumpmobile.com for $749. Whether the price will continue climbing alongside the broader memory market remains to be seen, but for now, the T1's brief stint as a $499 device appears to be over.
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| The Trump T1 is currently listed for $749 on Trump Mobile's website |