A shortage in memory chips is driving Apple's product prices higher

Apple plans to raise the prices of its hardware line as the cost of memory chips surges globally, the technology giant’s outgoing boss has said.

Outgoing Chief Executive Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that retail price increases are now "unavoidable" due to an "unsustainable" supply environment, though it remains unconfirmed if the hikes will hit the upcoming iPhone 18 launch this September.

Cook, who is scheduled to be replaced by John Ternus as Apple's CEO in September after a 15-year tenure, noted that memory manufacturers are passing along unprecedented cost increases amidst a massive supply deficit driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

Context

Memory chips are essential building blocks for modern smart devices, but the global surge in AI infrastructure has radically altered supplier dynamics over recent months.

For instance, the market price of RAM – historically one of the most affordable hardware components – has more than doubled since October 2025 alone.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which manufactures custom silicon for Apple, Nvidia, and AMD, refused to rule out its own upcoming rate hikes due to inflationary pressures, directly aligning with warnings from Samsung predicting that massive memory shortages would imminently bloat the retail price of global electronics.

Supply Chain Pressures

Compounding the AI hardware rush, geopolitical conflict has severely damaged the underlying semiconductor manufacturing pipeline.

Recent warfare in Iran has heavily disrupted the global supply of helium, an elemental gas that is absolutely critical to the chemical etching process used in fabricating advanced computer microchips.

The impending price hikes arrive despite Apple enjoying a highly lucrative hardware cycle, with sales of Apple devices growing by 17% in the first three months of 2026 compared to the previous year.