Apple is lobbying Washington for permission to buy memory chips from a Chinese company blacklisted for military ties, and the reason it's willing to take that political risk reveals something uncomfortable about how Silicon Valley's most profitable company talks about fair pricing.

Pricing will be a big challenge for Apple when it launches a folding phone — and price is a challenge with all folding phones. But news this week hints that maybe a new device upgrade plan at Apple will ease the pain of switching to a more expensive folding iPhone.