AI memory crunch pushes Apple to raise MacBook and iPad prices 20%

Apple has lifted MacBook and iPad prices by roughly 20% worldwide — one of the steepest broad-based increases in the company’s history. The trigger is a memory and storage chip shortage driven by the AI buildout: hyperscalers racing to fill data centers have crowded traditional consumer-memory buyers out of the market, and a Morgan Stanley analysis cited memory prices rising sixfold over the past year. New fab capacity takes years to come online, so the squeeze is unlikely to ease quickly.

This is Apple’s first formal move to pass those higher component costs to customers, with CEO Tim Cook framing the increases as unavoidable. Notably, Apple held the line on the iPhone — its highest-volume product and roughly half of revenue — absorbing the cost pressure there for now rather than risking demand on its flagship line.

Investors read the hikes as a margin and demand warning. Apple shares closed more than 6% lower on June 25, the stock’s worst single-day drop since April 2025. The episode shows how AI infrastructure spending is now reshaping pricing in consumer hardware markets that sit well outside the data center.