Apple raises prices on some Macs and iPads as chip costs rise

In short: Some new Apple Macs and iPads now cost more, in some cases over $200 more, because key chips for memory and storage have gotten much more expensive.

What's going on

Apple has raised prices on some products by more than $200. The company pointed to higher costs for memory and storage parts inside devices.

Memory and storage chips are the components that help a device keep apps open and save files. You can think of them like a desk (memory, also called RAM) and a filing cabinet (storage, often a solid-state drive). If both get more expensive, the whole computer tends to cost more.

This price hike is part of a wider problem hitting the electronics industry. Prices for two common types of chips, DRAM (a common kind of RAM) and NAND (a common kind of storage memory), have jumped sharply since 2025. Some reports put the increase at about 200% to 400% in certain parts of the market.

A big reason is demand from AI data centers, which are large buildings filled with computers that run AI systems. These data centers are buying huge amounts of high-end memory, including high-bandwidth memory, which is a faster type used for AI hardware. That demand can crowd out supply for everyday products like laptops, tablets, phones, and SSD upgrades.

What to watch

If memory prices stay high through 2026, shoppers may keep seeing higher starting prices, smaller amounts of RAM or storage for the same price, or fewer models available. In other words, the sticker price might rise, or the specs might shrink, even if the outside of the device looks the same.

Source: NYTimes