Apple is preparing to raise the prices of its products, with outgoing chief executive Tim Cook telling the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that increases are now “unavoidable” as the cost of memory chips has become “unsustainable.”
“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,” Cook told the WSJ. “There’s less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases,” he added.
Cook gave no timeline for the increases and did not specify which products would be affected. It remains unclear whether the iPhone 18, expected in September, will launch at a higher price point.
The pressure on memory chips reflects a broader squeeze across the semiconductor industry. AI demand has driven up the cost of chips across the board, while the war in Iran has disrupted the global supply of helium, a gas used in chip manufacturing.
The price of RAM has more than doubled since October 2025. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which makes the most advanced chips for Apple, Nvidia and AMD, told the BBC this month it would not rule out price increases of its own. Samsung flagged earlier this year that memory shortages would push up device prices industry-wide.
Apple has already moved on one product line. The company raised the price of its Mac Mini compact computers by about $200 earlier this year.
Cook, who is due to be replaced as CEO by John Ternus in September after 15 years in the role, had been able to point to strong sales momentum going into the transition.
Device sales grew 17 per cent in the first three months of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, with demand in China described as particularly strong.
