Apple price rise: memory crunch to lift iPhone, Mac costs

Apple plans to lift prices across parts of its hardware line-up as higher memory and storage costs squeeze margins, according to a Wall Street Journal interview with chief executive Tim Cook. The pressure is sharpest around iPhone and Mac models, where pricier DRAM and flash components are arriving at the same time as AI servers soak up more high-end chip supply.

Cook’s comments came just after WWDC 2026, where Apple spent its stage time on software and AI features rather than the cost of building the devices that run them. For Australian buyers heading into EOFY promotions, the signal is blunt enough: current discounts may be sitting against a component bill that is still moving higher.

CNBC reported that Cook said several Mac models would feel the biggest impact in the June quarter. He said Apple was weighing a range of responses, not announcing one immediate price move. Apple has not said which products or countries would see increases, but the comments suggest the company is no longer treating memory inflation as a short-lived supply-chain nuisance. Macs may give investors and shoppers the first clear read on how much of the higher bill Apple is willing to pass through.

In a Reuters report from February, Cook described the problem as a set of options rather than a settled decision.

“There are different levers that we can push, and who knows how successful they’ll be, but there’s just a range of options.”

Tim Cook, Reuters

Months earlier, Reuters reported in January that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together control about two-thirds of the DRAM market, were warning of tighter supply for PCs and phones as AI demand pulled production towards higher-margin chips. That is the bottleneck now showing up in Apple’s device economics. It is different from the processor shortages that defined earlier supply-chain shocks. Suppliers can make stronger returns from AI infrastructure, leaving mainstream devices to compete for less-favoured capacity.

For Apple, the question is not only whether it can charge more. Reuters reported the company led global smartphone shipments last year with a nearly 10 per cent rise, giving it scale and brand strength. Any change in retail pricing will still test how much pressure premium buyers are prepared to absorb. IDC senior research director Nabila Popal told Reuters that passing on higher costs could slow demand, while absorbing them would test investor patience.

Australia has no local price notice from Apple yet. The timing matters all the same, because the company’s premium phones and laptops already sit at the top end of the market and many buyers are watching EOFY deals. If the chip squeeze holds through the second half, the next iPhone and Mac refreshes will show whether higher component costs are flowing through to local shelves.

Behind the immediate pricing question is a broader industry shift. As Apple adds more on-device and cloud-linked AI features, it is buying into the same market that has encouraged memory makers to prioritise AI infrastructure over mainstream devices. The AI boom is no longer only a software story for Apple. It is becoming a hardware cost story too.