Apple price hikes could arrive within days, Gurman says

Tim Cook Warns Apple Price Hikes Are “Unavoidable” as Memory Chip Crisis Deepens

Apple CEO Tim Cook has confirmed that price increases across the company’s product lineup are coming, telling The Wall Street Journal in an exclusive interview that the global memory chip shortage has made higher prices “unavoidable.”abcnews

“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.”wsj

Cook described the crisis as “a hundred-year flood,” adding, “I’ve never seen anything like it in any area in over 40 years.” The interview, published Wednesday, marks the clearest signal yet that consumers will soon pay more for iPhones, iPads, and Macs.businessinsider

AI Demand Squeezes Consumer Electronics

The shortage stems from surging demand for DRAM and NAND memory chips from AI data centers, which are consuming supplies from manufacturers like Micron Technology, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix. Memory prices have risen more than sixfold over the past year, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Kim. Cook told the Journal that Apple is prepared to deploy its cash reserves to help boost supply, stating, “We are willing to utilize our financial resources to contribute to the solution.”cnbc

Nvidia chips powering AI infrastructure are consuming much of the available memory capacity that a limited number of manufacturers can provide, CNBC reported.cnbc

Price Increases Could Come Within Days

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote on X that Apple’s price hikes are “fairly imminent,” adding there is “no other reason to flag them now.” Gurman specified that the increases are “not a fall thing” and may coincide with Apple’s back-to-school promotion, which could launch as soon as next week.macworld

Research firm TechInsights estimates that the iPhone 18 Pro could rise to around $1,299, up from its current $1,099 price point. The BBC reported that research firm Omdia projects the average global selling price of smartphones will rise approximately 20% in 2026, with Apple’s new devices potentially costing up to $150 more than the iPhone 17 series.bbc

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan recently predicted the industry could see “no relief until 2028,” while Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi told CNBC the chip crunch is likely to extend into 2027.cnbc