Google is unveiling the Pixel 11 family on August 12, and ahead of that, the company’s VP of Devices and Services Shakil Barkat has confirmed what we were all fearing: price hikes are coming.
Barkat has unsurprisingly revealed that, like all other consumer tech companies, Google is also facing an unprecedented surge in costs, noting that there’s never been an increase in memory prices quite like this one. The exec says the company has “shielded” its customers from “supply fluctuations for as long as possible”, but the “economics have fundamentally shifted”.
So, the entire Pixel family will have to endure “price adjustments” that “will be rolled out dynamically to match supply realities”. This includes the upcoming Pixel 11 devices, but also existing models like the Pixel 10a. Barkat unfortunately hasn’t revealed precisely how much more expensive the devices will get, but did say that Google will still have promos and trade-in deals to soften the blow.
Recent leaks have suggested that the Pixel 11 Pro XL and Pixel 11 Pro Fold will get $100 more expensive, while the Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro will remove the 128GB storage option and thus will have their base price increased by $100 too (though if you’re comparing apples to apples, the 256GB version is priced the same as last year). The Pixel 11 Pro will apparently have just 12GB of RAM, down from 16GB in its predecessor, and if this pans out then it’s undoubtedly yet another way for Google to keep the costs in check.