Technology
Apple Raises Prices Across Macs and iPads, Citing Memory Costs
The company's latest pricing increases—ranging from $100 to $1,300 depending on the product—reflect a sustained shortage of consumer-grade memory chips as AI investments redirect supply to data centers.
Ars Technica
Apple has raised prices across much of its hardware lineup, with increases ranging from modest to substantial. Entry-level MacBooks are up by $100, while high-end MacBook Pros and the M3 Ultra Mac Studio have seen jumps of $300 and $1,300 respectively. iPad pricing has climbed by $100–$200 depending on configuration, with smaller increases applied to the Apple TV and HomePod. iPhones remain unchanged for now.
The culprit, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, is the soaring cost of memory. "The situation has become unsustainable," Cook explained, noting that Apple is "doing our best to mitigate" increases being passed down from suppliers.
The Memory Crunch#
As artificial intelligence investments accelerated, chipmakers have prioritized more profitable memory chips destined for data centers over consumer-grade alternatives. This shift has created persistent supply shortages across the industry, already forcing Apple to quietly discontinue high-capacity configurations of its Mac Studio in recent months.
For older Apple fans, the price pressure on memory echoes an uncomfortable chapter from the PowerPC era, when Apple commanded premium pricing for RAM upgrades.
