Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) raised prices across its Mac and iPad lineups Thursday, citing an AI-driven shortage of memory and storage chips the company says it can no longer absorb.
The increases took effect immediately, covering the MacBook Neo, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Studio, iMac, Mac mini, iPad Air, iPad Pro, Apple TV, HomePod, HomePod mini, and Vision Pro. Apple left iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods prices unchanged.
The MacBook Neo rose from $599 to $699. The MacBook Air went from $1,099 to $1,299. The MacBook Pro moved from $1,699 to $1,999, and the Mac Studio from $1,999 to $2,499. The iPad Air climbed from $599 to $749, the iPad Pro from $999 to $1,199, and the Apple TV from $129 to $199.
“We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” Apple said in a statement. The company said it had shielded customers from rising costs as long as possible but had reached its limit.
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CEO Tim Cook had telegraphed the move a week earlier. In a June 17 interview with the Wall Street Journal, Cook described the memory crunch as a “hundred-year flood” — and said he had not seen anything like it in more than 40 years in the industry.
The rapid expansion of data centers has created intense competition for the same memory and storage chips that go into consumer devices. Counterpoint Research director Tarun Pathak said memory prices have surged more than fourfold since the fourth quarter of 2025, with smartphone DRAM up 50% and NAND Flash storage up more than 90% quarter-over-quarter in the first quarter of 2026.
Evercore analyst Amit Daryanani said the scope and speed of the increases surprised Wall Street, with hikes ranging from 17% to 25% on core Mac and iPad base configurations — and hitting 54% on the Apple TV.
Apple shares fell 6.12% Thursday — the worst single-day performance in more than a year — erasing roughly $265 billion in market value and closing at $276.68.
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced its own increases hours later, raising Xbox console prices by $100 to $150, depending on storage tier, effective Aug. 1.
The iPhone was absent from Thursday’s changes, but IDC senior director Nabila Popal said iPhone increases are “surely coming” given how central the device is to Apple’s revenue.
Micron projects tight supply through at least 2027, and Intel has said the shortage is unlikely to ease before 2028.
