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Apple increased prices for iPads and MacBooks on Thursday, citing the inability to keep absorbing rising costs for memory and storage chips fueled by the expansion of data centers in the AI industry.
This price hike does not impact Apple’s flagship product, the iPhone. However, it does elevate the starting price of the Neo, its most affordable laptop designed to compete with budget Windows and Chromebook models, from $599 to $699 just months after its release.
The move highlights that even the world’s leading consumer electronics company, with supply chain networks that are the envy of the industry, isn’t immune to the recent spike in memory prices that has dampened the outlook for both smartphone and PC sales.
In recent months, memory chip manufacturers like Micron have prioritized orders from AI chip firms such as Nvidia, enabling them to achieve record profits but leaving less supply available for other electronics makers. As a result, prices for memory components have surged.
Apple commented, “We’ve never seen such a rapid and significant increase in component prices. Up until now, we’ve managed to shield our customers from these costs, but we’ve reached a point where we have to start passing some of those costs onto our products, including today’s increases for iPad and Mac.”
The price for the MacBook Air with 512GB storage has risen to $1,299 from $1,099, while the MacBook Pro with 1TB storage now costs $1,999, up from $1,699, according to updated pricing on Apple’s website. The iPad Air with 128GB of storage has increased from $599 to $749. Other product prices, including the HomePod smart speakers and Apple TV, have also been adjusted upward. Shares of Apple dipped slightly in premarket trading, down 0.7%.
In April, Apple stated that inventory levels had helped maintain margins above forecasts, but rising memory costs were expected to start impacting profitability by the end of the month, leading to slight declines. CEO Tim Cook had warned in late April that memory costs would be a growing pressure on the company’s bottom line beyond the current quarter.
While Apple hasn’t disclosed specific strategies beyond the price hikes, it acknowledged the challenge and said, “We know this news isn’t welcome, and we are working tirelessly on solutions.”
Memory prices, especially for dynamic RAM used in nearly all modern gadgets, increased as much as 98% in the first quarter of 2026 and are expected to jump an additional 58% to 63% in the current quarter, according to industry analyst firm TrendForce. The surge, often called “RAMageddon,” stems from the surge in AI data center construction, with companies like Nvidia signing long-term contracts to secure hardware supplies amidst capacity expansions by memory manufacturers.
Micron confirmed it has secured $22 billion in long-term commitments from customers eager to lock in their memory supplies. The rising costs are expected to heavily influence device sales this year, with IDC projecting a potential decline of nearly 14% in global smartphone shipments—the largest annual drop on record—and an 11.3% fall in PC shipments.
Ben Bajarin, CEO of tech consulting firm Creative Strategies, remarked, “The memory market remains structurally challenging for the foreseeable future. Apple’s need to raise prices signals that the industry at large may face similar or worse pressures.”
Despite the challenges, the MacBook Neo introduced in March has shown resilience, boosted Apple’s sales outlook for the June quarter, and prompted some industry analysts to revise downward their PC sales forecasts. The increased price has eliminated a $100 advantage over Dell’s recently launched $699 XPS 13, especially impacting the Neo’s competitiveness against some cheaper Chromebooks from Lenovo and Asus.
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