Reuters provided more details on a strategic airlift operation that allowed Apple to sidestep tariffs that could have pushed iPhone retail prices above $2,300 per unit. By ramping up chartered air freighter flights, Apple transported approximately 600 tons of iPhones—equivalent to an estimated 1.5 million units—from India to the United States to beat President Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff blitz. 

Sources said Apple chartered six jumbo jets, each with a capacity of 100 tons of iPhones, in recent weeks. There was no confirmation from sources on whether the aircraft used were Boeing 747-8Fs (maximum payload 140 tons) or Boeing 777Fs (maximum payload 102 tons). The planes reportedly departed from Chennai Airport in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Inspection times were reduced from 30 to just six hours, underscoring the urgency by CEO Tim Cook to transport iPhones to the US before tariff deadlines.

We first reported the emergency iPhone airlift operation on Monday...

Sources also said that Apple's iPhone plants in India increased production above 20% of normal levels to fulfill six jumbo jet loads of iPhones at the company's request: 

In India, Apple stepped up air shipments to meet its goal of a 20% increase in usual production at iPhone plants, attained by adding workers, and temporarily extending operations at the biggest Foxconn India factory to Sundays, the source added.

Two other direct sources confirmed the Foxconn plant in Chennai now runs on Sundays, which is typically a holiday. The plant turned out 20 million iPhones last year, including the latest iPhone 15 and 16 models.

'Operation iPhone Lift to America' comes as some Wall Street analysts warned Trump's tariffs could've increased iphone costs by 30-40%. Most iPhones are made in China, where levies are in excess of 120%. The good news is that a 26% tariff on imports from India has been placed on a 90-day hold—however, this excludes China. 

Goldman: President Trump increased the US effective tariff rate on Chinese goods to 125%

Before the 90-day pause for countries excluding China, Rosenblatt Securities analysts forecasted that the most affordable iPhone 16 model with a retail price of $799 would cost as much as $1,142 - or about a 43% rise. 

"This whole China tariff thing is playing out right now completely contrary to our expectation that American icon Apple would be kid-gloved, like last time," Rosenblatt analyst Barton Crockett wrote in a note to clients.

Trade data via the supply chain platform Sayari shows that Foxconn India is a major Apple supplier. 

Counterpoint Research estimates that Apple sells 220 million iPhones per year worldwide, and about a fifth of total iPhone imports to the United States now come from India, and the rest from China.