Apple raises prices of products amid soaring memory,storage chip costs driven by AI’s data centre build-out

Apple has raised iPad and MacBook prices, saying it can no longer shield customers from soaring memory and storage chip costs driven by the artificial intelligence industry’s data centre build-out.

The move does not affect Apple’s main cash cow, the iPhone.

But it would take starting price of the Neo - its lowest priced laptop aimed at winning market share from affordable Windows and Chromebook laptops - from $US599 to $US699 (from $A870 to $A1000) months after launch.

The increase shows even the world’s most valuable consumer electronics company with supply chain relationships that are the envy of the industry is not immune to a memory price surge that has dulled the outlook for smartphone and PC sales.

Memory makers such as Micron have in recent months prioritised orders from AI chipmakers like Nvidia, helping them earn record profit but leaving little supply for electronics makers that have been forced to increase prices.

“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, including today’s increases for iPad and Mac.”

Apple hiked the price of MacBook Air with 512 gigabytes of storage to $US1299 from $US1099 while the MacBook Pro with 1 terabyte of storage rose to $US1999 from $1699, according to updated prices on its website.

The iPad Air with 128 gigabytes of storage rose from $US599 to $US749, among other changes.

Apple also raised prices for both versions of its HomePod smart speaker and Apple TV set-top box.

US shares of the company were down 2.8 per cent in early trading on Thursday.

Apple said in April existing inventories had helped it keep its gross margins above Wall Street expectations but that rising memory costs would start to catch up by the end of this month, with profitability expected to fall slightly.

“We expect significantly higher memory costs,” CEO Tim Cook said on a conference call with analysts in late April.

“Where we don’t give colour beyond June, I can tell you that beyond the June quarter, we believe memory costs will drive an increasing impact on our business,” Cook had said.

Apple has not disclosed what steps besides price hike it has taken to address rising memory costs.

The company said on Thursday, “We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions.”

Prices of dynamic random access memory, used in virtually all modern tech gadgets, rose as much as 98 per cent in the first quarter of 2026 and is set to jump by another 58 per cent to 63 per cent in the current quarter, according to industry tracker TrendForce.

That surge, dubbed by some experts as “RAMageddon,, has been driven by a boom in AI data centre construction, with companies like Nvidia signing long-term deals with memory makers who are racing to increase capacity.