Apple CEO says rising memory costs force price hikes
Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that higher memory and storage component prices are making price increases for Apple products unavoidable.
Apple announced that it will raise prices on some of its devices to offset sharply higher memory and storage component costs, according to CEO Tim Cook in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Cook said the company can no longer absorb the cost increases and must pass a portion of them on to consumers.
"Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable," Cook said. "We're doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we've been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable."
The specific products and the magnitude of the hikes were not disclosed, but analysts expect the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro models, as well as certain iPad and Mac lines, could see higher price tags. Apple recently eliminated its lowest-priced Mac mini model, raising the entry price from $599 to $799, and has also trimmed higher-end Mac mini and Mac Studio configurations.
Industry observers attribute the pressure to a surge in demand for memory and storage chips from artificial-intelligence firms, which has created shortages and driven up prices. The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple may need to increase device costs "substantially" to preserve profit margins, and research firm TechInsights estimated the iPhone 18 Pro could cost about $270 more to produce.
Cook noted that Apple will use its cash reserves to secure additional memory supply but does not plan to build its own factories, saying, "We can't do everything. We know what we're good at."
While chip makers such as Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron are expanding capacity, much of the new output is earmarked for server-grade chips, leaving consumer-device demand outpacing supply. Cook compared the current memory shortage to a "hundred-year flood" and said he had not seen a similar situation in four decades.
Other technology companies, including Samsung, Microsoft, Sony and Dell, have already announced price increases in response to the same market pressures.
