Apple raises MacBook and iPad prices as memory costs surge

Apple raised prices for iPads and MacBooks on June 25, saying it could no longer absorb the soaring cost of memory and storage chips driven by the AI industry's data centre buildout. The increases do not touch the iPhone, the company's biggest source of revenue.

What got more expensive

The MacBook Neo, Apple's lowest-priced laptop and its answer to affordable Windows machines and Chromebooks, now starts at $699 instead of $599, only months after launch. A MacBook Air with 512 GB of storage rose to $1,299 from $1,099, while a MacBook Pro with 1 TB rose to $1,999 from $1,699, according to updated prices on Apple's website. The iPad Air with 128 GB went from $599 to $749. Apple also raised prices for both HomePod models and the Apple TV set-top box.

Shares of Apple fell nearly 5% on the day, and rival Dell was down more than 8%.

The memory squeeze behind the increases

"We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly," Apple 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 on a number of products."

Memory makers such as Micron have in recent months prioritised orders from AI chipmakers, leaving little supply for consumer device manufacturers. Micron said on Wednesday that it had locked in $22 billion in long-term commitments from customers securing memory supplies. Prices of dynamic random access memory rose as much as 98% in the first quarter of 2026 and are set to climb another 58% to 63% in the current quarter, according to the industry tracker TrendForce — a surge some experts have nicknamed "RAMageddon".

Pressure that goes beyond Apple

Several analysts said rival device makers may have to raise prices even more sharply than Apple, whose supplier relationships have cushioned it from the full hit. "The memory environment is tough and remains structurally tough for the foreseeable future," said Ben Bajarin, chief executive of the consulting firm Creative Strategies.

Analysts also expect Apple to raise iPhone prices in the coming months. "The iPhone isn't spared, its hike is coming," said Nabila Popal, a senior research director at IDC, who argued it was strategic for Apple to announce the increases before the iPhone's autumn launch.

Rising costs are expected to weigh on device sales this year: IDC estimates the smartphone market will see its biggest-ever annual decline of nearly 14%, while the PC market falls 11.3%. Apple said in April that existing inventories had helped keep gross margins above Wall Street expectations, but that rising memory costs would catch up by the end of June. "We expect significantly higher memory costs," chief executive Tim Cook told analysts at the time.