Apple Hikes Mac and iPad Prices as AI Squeezes Chip Supply

Apple raised the prices of its Macs by 15% to 20% and iPads by 15% to 25% Thursday morning (June 25), attributing the increases to the surging costs of components used in the devices, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The company didn’t change the price of its iPhones, according to the report.

The increases came about a week after Apple CEO Tim Cook told the WSJ that the soaring costs of the memory and storage chips the company uses in its devices made price increases “inevitable.”

That report said artificial intelligence companies’ demand for the products is driving up prices.

Apple told the WSJ Thursday, per the report: “We have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.”

Bloomberg reported Thursday that Apple’s price increases on Macs and iPads are global and that the company did not raise the prices of iPhones, Apple Watches or AirPods.

Apple said in the report that the company had shielded its customers from the rising prices of components but now needs to raise its prices on “a number of products including today’s increases for iPad and Mac.”

“We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions,” the company said in the report.

Reuters reported Thursday that Apple also raised prices on its HomePod smart speakers and its Apple TV set-top box.

The report said that the starting price of Apple’s lowest priced laptop, the Neo, which was introduced months ago to compete with other makers’ affordable laptops, increased from $599 to $699.

Cook told the WSJ in a report posted June 17 that Apple planned to raise prices due to a surge in the costs of memory and storage chips.

“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 said.

The report said the prices for memory and storage chips have quadrupled over the past year, driven by artificial intelligence companies’ demand for the products.

In response to the rising costs, companies that make PCs, smartphones, game consoles and other devices that use the chips have raised prices, per the report.