Apple hikes prices of MacBooks and iPads due to rising memory and storage chip costs
Apple has increased the prices of MacBooks and iPads worldwide, blaming soaring memory and storage chip costs driven by booming demand for AI infrastructure.
Apple has increased the prices of MacBooks and iPads around the world, citing soaring memory and storage chip costs as the artificial intelligence boom continues to drive up demand for key components.
The technology giant said some laptop and tablet prices have risen by almost 20 per cent, describing the current situation as an "unprecedented challenge" for the consumer electronics industry.
Apple said in a statement: "We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly."
The company added: "We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today's increases for iPad and Mac."
Apple said the surge in demand for chips used in AI data centres had significantly increased the cost of memory and storage components, particularly RAM.
Among the affected products is the MacBook Pro with 1TB of storage, which has risen from $1,699 to $1,999 in the United States. In the UK, Apple's entry-level Neo laptop has increased from £599 to £699 just months after launch.
The announcement came shortly before Microsoft-owned Xbox revealed it would also raise console prices for the second time in less than a year because of what it called the ongoing "components crisis".
From August, the entry-level Xbox console will increase by $100 to $499, while higher-capacity models will rise by $150 to $749.
Xbox said: "The entire consumer electronics industry is struggling with the current components crisis, but the effects are particularly hard on consoles."
The company added that memory and storage costs have already more than doubled and are expected to double again by 2027.
Industry analysts said the increases highlight the growing impact of AI infrastructure spending across the wider technology sector.
Paolo Pescatore described Apple's decision as evidence that the AI boom is now affecting consumer electronics.
He told the BBC: "This is a significant moment because even Apple, with its scale and buying power, is no longer immune to the rising cost of key components."
Counterpoint Research analyst David Naranjo said other manufacturers were likely to follow.
He said: "They may raise prices on select products, cut discounts on entry-level models, or adjust their product lines to focus more on premium devices."
Apple's outgoing chief executive Tim Cook had previously warned that price increases were "unavoidable", telling the Wall Street Journal: "We definitely need memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels for consumer products. That's the bottom line."
