Apple\u2019s recent product launch caused headlines around the world as it unveiled its first folding phone. But hidden in the slick technology showcase was a nasty surprise: a \u00a3100 increase in the price of all iPhones, including older models.<\/p>\n
It is blamed on \u201cRAMageddon\u201d, which has reversed a decades-long trend of electronics becoming cheaper. It is the fallout from the AI gold rush hoovering up every memory chip<\/a> available for vast datacentres. This has led to a severe shortage of the chips, and other critical components, for electronics, including phones.<\/p>\n The situation has dramatically driven up costs, with some chips five times dearer than previously listed. Therefore the everyday electronics products people rely on are suddenly significantly more expensive to make, and that is being passed on to consumers.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo things are happening at once,\u201d says Francisco Jeronimo, the vice-president of client devices at research company IDC. \u201cComponent costs have risen sharply, with memory alone up more than 300% year on year.\u201d<\/p>\n Because older iPhones use the same expensive memory as the new ones, Apple<\/a> is pricing them as current products, he adds.<\/p>\n Apple presented its foldable iPhone Duo earlier this month. Photograph: Carlos Barr\u00eda\/Reuters<\/p>\n The iPhone is not the first product to have a \u201cRAMageddon\u201d price increase, but it is the single biggest-selling electrical product in the world. For many, this means the real cost of the AI splurge will be \u00a3100 without getting anything more for your money.<\/p>\n Other manufacturers of smartphones have also increased the price of new models, with Samsung and Google adding up to \u00a380<\/a> to their flagship phones.<\/p>\n Apple has also increased the price of its refurbished stock by \u00a360 to \u00a370, including the older iPhone 15 that is no longer sold new in the shops. However, according to data from Uswitch, the increase in cost has yet to reach the third-party refurbished iPhone market.<\/p>\n \u201cA refurbished iPhone 16 has held at about \u00a3503 all summer, roughly where it was before the 18 Pro launch,\u201d says Ernest Doku, a Uswitch mobiles expert. \u201cA refurbished 14 is about \u00a310 cheaper than it was in June, while the 16 has simply stopped falling in price.\u201d<\/p>\n double quotation markComputer manufacturers have had to raise prices several times over the past 18 months<\/p>\n Most smartphone makers, other than Apple, have discontinued older models that were no longer economically viable, and likely wouldn\u2019t sell at higher prices. The impact has been particularly acute at the lower end of the market.<\/p>\n In its latest forecast, IDC predicts there will be the steepest annual contraction in worldwide smartphone sales on record this year, falling almost 17% to just over 1bn handsets. \u201cPeople are buying fewer phones and paying considerably more for those they do buy,\u201d Jeronimo says.<\/p>\n Microsoft added as much as \u00a3220 to the cost of some of its Surface computers. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs\/The Guardian<\/p>\n There have been bigger price rises for other electronics. Computer makers, which are much more exposed to rapidly jumping memory and chip costs, have had to raise prices several times over the past 18 months.<\/p>\n Microsoft added up to \u00a3220 to some of its Surface computers but also released versions with half as much memory as a way to attempt to keep prices down.<\/p>\n The move has forced the company to try to redesign Windows to run more comfortably with only 8GB of RAM<\/a>, which it hasn\u2019t for several years.<\/p>\n Many of PC maker Dell\u2019s high-end laptops have jumped by as much as 25%<\/a>, while the repairable laptop maker Framework has had to continually adjust prices<\/a> as costs fluctuate.<\/p>\n Even Apple added \u00a3100 to its lower-cost MacBook Neo<\/a>, as well as rises to most models in its Mac and iPad lines in June<\/a>. \u201cWe have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,\u201d the company says in a statement.<\/p>\n