Key facts
- Apple plans price increases on its products due to rising memory and storage chip costs.
- CEO Tim Cook cited fierce competition for dwindling supplies, driven by AI demand for data centers, as the cause.
- Cook stated that price increases are unavoidable and that the situation has become unsustainable.
- The company did not disclose the timing, scale, or specific products that will be impacted by the price hikes.
- Apple recently increased the starting price of the Mac Mini by reducing its base storage.
Apple plans to raise prices on its products to offset increasing memory and storage chip costs, CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal. The surge in AI-driven demand for data centers has intensified competition for these key components, driving prices higher.
Cook stated that price increases are unavoidable and that the company has been trying to shield customers, but the situation has become unsustainable. He did not disclose when or how much prices might rise, nor which products would be affected. Apple recently increased the starting price of the Mac Mini by reducing its base storage option.
Cook noted that both memory and storage prices are issues, with a particular focus on DRAM and the increased allocation of high-bandwidth memory for AI servers. He emphasized the need for memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels for consumer products.