Apple has announced unprecedented price increases for most of its product lineup, with only iPhone and Apple Watch spared for now. The cause is the AI-driven memory crisis, as data centers consume vast amounts of memory modules, squeezing the global supply.
AI data centers gobble up memory supply
Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal that the company could no longer absorb the rising costs. Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable, Cook said. We are doing our best to mitigate the huge increases passed to us, but the situation has become unsustainable. Gigantic AI data centers are putting tremendous pressure on memory supply. For instance, a 32GB DDR5 kit that cost under $90 last year now sells for nearly $400.
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Impact on Mac and iPad prices
Apple uses higher-end memory and faces added costs from soldering it directly onto the chipset die. This has led to price hikes between 10% and 20% depending on the model. The new prices are already in effect. For those looking to buy, Amazon still carries older inventory at lower prices, though not as low as Prime Day deals.
Future outlook: new fabs and possible AI slowdown
Hope lies in new memory fabs from Micron coming online by 2030, and Apple's lobbying to buy memory from Chinese suppliers. However, further price increases of 30-50% are expected in Q3 and Q4 2026. As reported in our article on Flock Safety AI surveillance, AI demand shows no sign of slowing. If you need a new Mac or iPad, buying now is advised, as prices will continue to rise. For technical context, see the Wikipedia entry on DDR5 SDRAM.
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Source: https://9to5mac.com/2026/06/28/heres-why-your-ipad-and-mac-just-got-much-more-expensive
