FALLOUT FROM THE AI EXPLOSION: Apple to Raise Prices Due to Memory Chip Crunch, Tim Cook Says.
“Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” he said. “We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable.”
Cook declined to offer details on the timing or scale of the planned price increases, nor which products will be affected. Apple’s next major product launch is likely to be in September when it releases the iPhone 18 lineup, expected to include a new foldable iPhone.
Price increases, especially for Macs and iPads, could come sooner. Apple raised the starting price of the Mac Mini last month in between launch events.
Skyrocketing demand for memory and storage chips from AI companies has pushed up their cost so much that Apple would have to raise device prices substantially to maintain its profit margins.”
Apple kinda-sorta held the line on price increases largely by eliminating entry-level memory options on some models, forcing buyers into the next tier — presumably where margins are better. But that was never anything more than a short-term fix to what’s become a long-term problem for everybody.
Whether you’re Mac, Windows, or Linux, now is a lousy time to buy. But it’s better than later.
(Sorry for the paywalled link, but the Archive version wasn’t available at press time.)
