TechJun 27, 2026
Money TL;DR for June 28: Why You Might Not Want to Delay Your Technology Purchases
Supply Trends
Noah Weidner
Discover
If you’ve built a computer anytime in the last few years (gamers, 3D modelers, workstation enthusiasts… rise up?), then you remember what the crypto boom did to the price of graphics cards. Surprise: It’s happening again with the AI boom, but this longtime nerd tax is now affecting everybody.
Apple and Microsoft hike prices: This week’s biggest story was arguably Apple ****announcing it would raise the price of various consumer products like its MacBooks, iPads, Apple TV, and HomePod smart speaker. Notably, the changes didn’t hamper the iPhone, since the Pro models already saw a price bump. And not even hours later, Microsoft increased the price of the Xbox, sunsetting its 2 TB model in the process. The message is clear — tech companies will no longer shield consumers from the consequences of the AI boom.
Unfortunately for anyone looking to buy a new MacBook or Xbox, that’s going to cost more now. However, there appears to be a window here for people to buy other things that haven’t risen in price just yet.
A small history lesson: Yes, during the last memory/GPU supercycle, things eventually went bust and prices returned to normal. That was, nonetheless, a years-long process. Tech giants could abandon their AI strategies tomorrow, and prices could normalize, but I wouldn’t bet on that happening soon. That might make now the second-best time to buy what you need (the best time being before these recent price hikes). In the meantime, the market will continue to punish hyperscalers for getting bullied by memory producers boasting 85% margins.
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