Apple is preparing its customers for higher prices for its devices. The reason does not lie directly in the new features of iPhones or Macs, but in the components market, which is increasingly being driven by the boom in artificial intelligence.
Tim Cook told*The Wall Street Journal*that price rises for Apple products had become “inevitable”. The company had been trying for some time to absorb the rising costs of memory and storage, but according to Cook, the scale of the price rises imposed by suppliers has become unsustainable without affecting retail prices.
The biggest problem is DRAM and NAND flash memory. The very same components used in smartphones, computers and tablets are now increasingly being channelled into data centres built for AI applications. HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), the high-bandwidth memory used in AI servers, is particularly important. For component manufacturers, this is a more attractive segment, as it is growing faster and generates higher margins.
The result is simple: consumer electronics must compete for a smaller pool of components. Apple, despite the scale of its procurement, is not immune to this market dynamic. If the largest manufacturer of premium devices is speaking publicly about cost pressures, it is a sign that the problem affects the entire industry.
Cook did not specify which products would become more expensive or when the changes would come into effect. The most obvious timing could be the autumn launch of new iPhones, including the anticipated iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max and the first foldable iPhone. However, price rises may also affect Macs and iPads sooner, as these devices also use a lot of memory.
Apple is considering using its balance sheet to help boost the availability of components, but Cook ruled out building its own memory factories. This is an important distinction. The company wants to influence supply, but has no plans to enter production sectors as capital-intensive and cyclical as DRAM or NAND.
For consumers, the conclusion is less welcome. AI, which until now has been associated mainly with cloud services, is beginning to affect the prices of everyday hardware. Apple may well be just the first high-profile example.
