Apple said on Thursday that it was raising prices for its MacBook computers, iPad tablets and other products, citing spiralling memory and storage costs sparked by the rise of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
The price hikes \u2014 the first concrete change stemming from outgoing<\/a> CEO Tim Cook\u2019s repeated warnings about rising costs<\/a> \u2014 sent Apple shares plummeting more than 4.7 per cent in morning trade.<\/p>\n On its US website, price increases ranged from $30 to $300. The 14-inch MacBook Pro, which once sold for $1,700, now retails for $2,000, while the iPad Air increased from $600 to $750.<\/p>\n The Apple TV streaming device rose from $130 to $200.<\/p>\n For now, the price of the iPhone \u2014 the company\u2019s main source of revenue \u2014 remained unchanged.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rapid expansion of AI data centres<\/a> has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage,\u201d an Apple spokesperson said in a statement sent to multiple media outlets.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Apple did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.<\/p>\n The Cupertino, California-based tech giant \u2014 which notched an all-time revenue record of $416 billion in the last fiscal year \u2014 insisted it had \u201cshielded our customers from these increases so far\u201d but could no longer do so.<\/p>\n Last week, Cook set the stage when he told The Wall Street Journal that price increases were \u201cunavoidable<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases,\u201d Cook said, deeming the spike in prices a \u201chundred-year flood\u201d.<\/p>\n The rapid buildout of AI data centres has sent the cost of memory chips and RAM skyrocketing \u2014 as the components are found in nearly all electronic devices \u2014 with the chips undergoing quarterly price increases of at least 50pc since late 2025.<\/p>\n