Apple raises iPad, MacBook prices as AI memory crunch hits consumer tech

Apple has raised prices on several iPads and MacBooks, a sign that the artificial intelligence boom is now pushing up costs far beyond data centres and into everyday consumer gadgets.

The company said on Thursday it could no longer absorb surging memory and storage chip costs caused by the global rush to build AI infrastructure, marking one of the clearest examples yet of how the race to power artificial intelligence is beginning to hit consumers directly.

The price hikes spare the iPhone, Apple’s biggest revenue generator, but affect some of its most important computing products, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iPad Air and the low-cost MacBook Neo. The Neo, launched only months ago to help Apple compete more aggressively in the budget laptop market, will now start at $699 instead of $599.

Apple said it had tried for months to shield customers from higher component costs, but the scale of the increase in memory prices had made that increasingly difficult.

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“We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly. 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,” the company said in a statement.

The changes are significant not only because of their size, but because they show that even Apple, a company long seen as having one of the strongest supply chains in global electronics, is struggling to contain the cost shock created by AI demand.

AI buildout is draining supply from consumer electronics

At the centre of the problem is the global memory market. Dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, is used in nearly every modern device, from smartphones and tablets to laptops and servers. But as tech companies pour billions of dollars into AI data centres, memory suppliers have shifted more of their capacity toward lucrative orders tied to AI servers and accelerators.

That has left less supply for consumer electronics makers.

Memory companies such as Micron have increasingly prioritised long-term supply agreements with AI chipmakers and hyperscale data-centre operators. The result is a squeeze on manufacturers of PCs, tablets and smartphones, which are now being forced to pay much more for the same components or pass the cost on to buyers.

Industry tracker TrendForce estimates that DRAM prices rose by as much as 98 percent in the first quarter of 2026 and could climb another 58 percent to 63 percent in the current quarter. Some industry executives have started referring to the shock as “RAMageddon”.

Apple’s latest pricing shows the consumer side of that squeeze is no longer theoretical.

The MacBook Air with 512GB of storage now costs $1,299, up from $1,099. The MacBook Pro with 1TB of storage has risen to $1,999 from $1,699. The iPad Air with 128GB of storage now costs $749, up from $599.

A warning sign for the wider device market

The move is also a warning for the broader consumer tech market, which was already facing weak demand before the latest cost pressures emerged.

For much of the past year, investors and device makers had hoped AI features on phones and PCs would help revive sales. Instead, the first major commercial effect of the AI boom on consumer hardware may be inflation, not demand.

Research firm IDC expects the smartphone market to record its steepest annual decline on record this year, with shipments falling nearly 14 percent, while the PC market is projected to shrink 11.3 percent. Higher prices for laptops and tablets could make that outlook worse, especially in the entry-level and mid-range segments where buyers are more price-sensitive.

That is why the MacBook Neo increase may be especially important. Apple launched the lower-cost laptop in March as part of a strategy to win share from Windows and Chromebook devices in schools, homes and other budget-conscious markets. By lifting the starting price by $100 so soon after launch, Apple risks weakening one of its strongest growth levers in the PC market just as consumer spending remains under pressure.

In effect, the company is being forced to choose between protecting margins and protecting momentum.

Apple’s margin cushion is starting to wear thin

Apple had already warned investors that memory inflation was becoming harder to manage. In April, the company said existing inventory had helped it keep gross margins above Wall Street expectations, but cautioned that the protection would not last.

Tim Cook, chief executive officer told analysts then that memory costs would have an increasing impact beyond the June quarter, signalling that the company’s stockpile of lower-cost components was beginning to run out.

Thursday’s announcement confirms that the pressure has arrived faster and more visibly than many investors expected.

It also suggests that Apple sees limited short-term relief in the memory market. Cook said in interviews this week that supply is being redirected toward high-bandwidth memory used in AI servers, reducing the amount available for traditional consumer devices. He added that Apple is willing to use its balance sheet to support efforts to expand memory supply, though he ruled out the idea of building its own memory factories.

That comment is notable because it points to a broader shift in the industry: access to memory is becoming a strategic issue, not just a procurement issue. For years, Apple’s supply-chain advantage allowed it to secure components at scale and protect profitability better than rivals. The current squeeze suggests that in the AI era, even that advantage may not be enough when server demand is overwhelming the rest of the market.

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Why Apple spared the iPhone — for now

Apple’s decision to leave iPhone prices unchanged is also telling.

The iPhone remains the company’s main profit engine and its most politically and commercially sensitive product. Raising iPhone prices would carry greater demand risk, especially as consumers hold on to smartphones for longer and competition in premium handsets intensifies. By limiting the increases to Macs and iPads, Apple appears to be trying to protect its core franchise while spreading the cost burden across categories that are important but less central to its earnings.

Still, the strategy may only buy time. If memory costs continue rising through the second half of the year, pressure could spread to more products, especially as Apple prepares to launch new devices including a foldable iPhone expected later this year.

For now, Apple’s message is that the economics of consumer electronics are being rewritten by the AI arms race.

The boom in artificial intelligence has created huge demand for advanced chips, servers and data-centre capacity, lifting companies such as Nvidia and memory makers like Micron Technology. But Apple’s latest price increases show the other side of that boom, that is the cost is beginning to land on ordinary buyers of laptops and tablets.

For consumers, it means AI is no longer just a story about new software tools and futuristic assistants. It is also becoming a story about more expensive devices.

And for the tech industry, Apple’s move may be an early sign that the AI buildout is starting to distort the economics of the entire hardware market, from the data centre all the way to the checkout page.