Apple raises iPad and MacBook prices as AI chip shortage stings
Apple has raised the prices of iPads and MacBooks in the face of rising memory and storage chip costs. With the AI industry expanding at lightning speed, new data centres have been buying up chips that would have otherwise been used to make consumer electronics, pushing prices upward dramatically.
Apple said in a statement that they had “never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly” and that although they’d tried to protect consumers until now, they could no longer hold the line.
The iPhone is safe from price hikes at the moment, but most observers expect the next models released in autumn to come with a higher price tag.
The current increases are dramatic. The 512 GB MacBook Air has gone up by $200, while the 1TB MacBook Pro costs $300 more. Apple TV and HomePod smart speakers have also seen a price hike. The company’s shares fell nearly 5% on the news.
The memory shortage is being felt across the electronics industry. Dubbed “Ram-ageddon”, it sees memory makers like Micron prioritising orders from AI chipmakers such as Nvidia, locking in highly profitable long-term deals with them while leaving device manufacturers out in the cold.
Industry analysts TrendForce report that DRAM prices climbed by as much as 98% during the first quarter of 2026, with an additional jump of up to 63% forecast for this quarter. Research firm IDC has warned that the ripple effects could push the global smartphone market to its biggest ever annual decline, potentially as steep as 14%.