TechJun 25, 2026
Apple Lifts Device Pricing Amid Sharp Memory Inflation
Rhea Lobo
Apple raised prices on its devices by 15% to 25% on Thursday, citing a historic surge in memory and storage chip costs driven by AI datacenter demand.
The company briefly took down its online store early Thursday morning, as it typically does before major announcements. When it returned, prices had jumped across the Mac and iPad lineup.
Apple raised prices across much of its lineup, adding $200 to the MacBook Air, $300 to the MacBook Pro, and $100 to the MacBook Neo.
The iPad Air increased by $150 and the iPad Pro by $200, bringing starting prices to roughly $750 and $1,200, respectively.
Apple also raised prices on its HomePod smart speaker and Apple TV set-top box. iPhone prices were unchanged, though Apple hinted at future increases.
"We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly," the company said in a statement. "We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices."
Prices of DRAM, the dynamic random access memory used in virtually all modern gadgets, rose as much as 98% in the first quarter of 2026 alone. TrendForce projects a further jump of 58% to 63% in the current quarter.
The memory squeeze has earned the nickname "RAMageddon." As AI spending accelerates, companies are locking in future supply, helping Micron secure $22B in long-term commitments.
Micron reported gross margins of 84.9% in its most recent quarter, up from 39% a year ago, surpassing Nvidia and Meta.
Apple's price increases arrived the day after Micron posted those results. Micron executives said "tight conditions" in the memory market will persist beyond 2027, extending a prior forecast that only went through this year.
"This is a hundred-year flood. I've never seen anything like it in any area in over 40 years," Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal.
Analysts expect competing device makers to absorb bigger cost increases, as Apple's supplier scale provides a pricing advantage.
Analysts at Counterpoint Research estimate that higher memory costs could add roughly $200 per iPhone for Apple.
IDC expects all new iPhone models to move to 12GB of RAM to support the full suite of Apple Intelligence features, which requires more memory than current base configurations.
The company projects Apple's average selling price will rise 12% this year, helped by a richer product mix and an expected foldable iPhone launch.
It also estimates the smartphone market will see its biggest-ever annual decline of nearly 14% this year, while the PC market will fall 11.3%.
