Apple announced price increases for its Macs, iPads, and home devices on Thursday, citing soaring costs for memory and storage chips. Tim Cook stated last week that these increases were unavoidable as the company can no longer shield customers from the rising costs.
The price hikes are driven by an unprecedented shortage of memory chips caused by the artificial intelligence boom and the AI industry's datacenter buildout. Similar pressures are affecting other tech giants, as Microsoft is also raising prices for Xbox consoles due to the same soaring memory chip costs.
Price increases vary by product, reaching as much as 25% or up to $300. For example, the starting price of the Neo, the company's lowest priced laptop, will rise from $599 to $699 mere months after its launch. While the iPhone is not affected by this move, Apple's stock price dropped later in the day following the announcement.