Apple price rise: CEO Tim Cook says increases are ‘unavoidable’ for products, credits AI boom

Australians could soon be paying more for Apple products.

While the tech giant’s chief executive Tim Cook would not reveal any timing on when the hikes should be expected, he said increases were “unavoidable”.

“Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” he told the Wall Street Journal.

According to the BBC, Apple’s new iPhone 18 could be up to more than $150 more than the 17s when the product is released in September.

However, the specific Apple products expected to be impacted by the increases has not yet been revealed.

Mr Cook put the price hikes down to a worldwide shortage of memory chips, which is driving up costs.

“There’s less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases,” Mr Cook said.

“We definitely need memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels for consumer products.

“That’s the bottom line.”

The shortages have been attributed to AI companies, whose growing demand has reduced the amount of memory chips available for electronics companies.

Memory chips are essential components of a smart phone, and as Apple’s product offering expands its AI offerings, the amount required by the company is expected to climb.

Mr Cook said that, while the company had tried to shield customers from the increases, “the situation has become unsustainable” and that was no longer viable.

When asked if the company would consider building their own memory factories, Mr Cook rejected the idea.

“We can’t do everything,” he said.

“We know what we’re good at.”

Mr Cook, who has been Apple’s chief executive for 15 years, will be replaced by John Ternus in September.