Apple Inc. implemented sweeping price hikes on Thursday, raising the cost of all Macs, iPads, home devices, and the Vision Pro. This move, which went live globally on its online retail store, is a direct response to an unprecedented shortage and resulting increase in the cost of memory chips and storage. Apple's shares subsequently fell following the announcement.
While iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods were not affected by this round of price adjustments, the company hinted at potential future price changes for these and other products. Specific examples of price increases include the MacBook Air with 512 gigabytes of storage, which rose to $1,299 from $1,099, and the MacBook Pro with 1 terabyte of storage, increasing to $1,999 from $1,699. The iPad Air with 128 gigabytes of storage also saw a significant jump from $599 to $749.
This decision marks a rare instance of Apple raising prices, a step taken to mitigate the impact of soaring memory costs driven by the AI industry's data center buildout. Industry tracker TrendForce reported that dynamic random access memory (DRAM) prices surged by as much as 98% in the first quarter of 2026 and are projected to climb an additional 58% to 63% in the current quarter, a phenomenon experts have dubbed "RAMageddon."
Apple stated it had previously shielded customers from these increases but could no longer do so, emphasizing the extraordinary nature of the component price surge. This situation is expected to negatively impact device sales, with research firm IDC forecasting a nearly 14% annual decline in the smartphone market and an 11.3% drop in the PC market this year. The price increases also erode competitive advantages, such as the MacBook Neo's edge over Dell's XPS 13.
