Apple raises prices for MacBooks and iPads, as costs soar over AI

Apple said on Thursday that it was raising prices for its MacBook computers, iPad tablets. other products, citing spiralling memory and storage costs sparked by the rise of artificial intelligence.

The price hikes — the first concrete change stemming fromoutgoingCEO Tim Cook’s repeated warnings aboutrising costs— sent Apple shares plummeting more than 4.7 per cent in morning trade.

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.

The Apple TV streaming device rose from $130 to $200.

For now, the price of the iPhone — the company’s main source of revenue — remained unchanged.

“The rapid expansion ofAI data centreshas created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory. storage,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement sent to multiple media outlets.

“We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.”

Apple did not immediately respond toAFPrequests for comment.

The Cupertino, California-based tech giant — which notched an all-time revenue record of $416 billion in the last fiscal year — insisted it had “shielded our customers from these increases so far”. could no longer do so.

Last week, Cook set the stage when he toldThe Wall Street Journalthat price increases were “unavoidable”.

“There’s less supply at a time when consumers want devices. the memory guys are passing along huge price increases,” Cook said, deeming the spike in prices a “hundred-year flood”.

The rapid buildout of AI data centres has sent the cost of memory chips. RAM skyrocketing — as the components are found in nearly all electronic devices — with the chips undergoing quarterly price increases of at least 50pc since late 2025.

It will fall toJohn Ternusto handle the fallout at Apple — he will succeed Cook as CEO on September 1. just days before the new generation of iPhones is unveiled.