Nvidia · Apple · The Guardian Technology
Apple raises iPad and MacBook prices, blaming cost of chips amid AI boom
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Apple raised iPad and MacBook prices on Thursday, saying it could no longer shield customers from soaring memory and storage chip costs driven by the AI industry’s data center buildout.
Key facts
- Prices of a MacBook Air with 512 gigabytes went up $200
- A MacBook Pro with 1 terabyte of storage will become $300 more expensive
- Prices of dynamic random access memory, used in virtually all modern tech gadgets, rose as much as 98% in the first quarter of 2026 and are set to jump by another 58% to 63% in the current quarter
- The rising costs are expected to weigh heavily on device sales this year, with research firm IDC estimating that the smartphone market would see its biggest-ever annual decline of nearly 14%
Summary
The move does not affect Apple’s cash cow, the iPhone. The increase shows that 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, prioritized orders from AI chipmakers such as Nvidia. “We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” Apple said in a statement.