Apple confirms – Apple CEO Tim Cook says price increases are “unavoidable,” pointing to tighter supply and sharply higher costs for memory and storage chips. TechInsights estimates an iPhone Pro could cost at least $200 more, with October and beyond likely bringing more change
The message landed quietly, but the impact is anything but. Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal that product price increases are coming—and that Apple can’t fully absorb the kind of cost pressure now hitting memory and storage chips.
“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.”
Cook didn’t name a date or specify exactly which products will change first. But he tied the shift to two things that shoppers can feel immediately: shorter supply of components and higher costs for memory and storage. Those pressures are already making their way into Apple pricing, even before the company’s next big hardware refresh.
Apple is widely expected to unveil a new product lineup in September. That would include new iPhones—along with a potential folding iPhone Ultra—plus a new Apple Watch and other devices. Cook’s comments suggest that the tighter chip cost structure could show up as soon as that rollout. The same pressure may also start hitting higher-cost hardware like Macs and iPads sooner.
One price change has already happened. Last month, Apple adjusted the starting price and configuration of its cheapest Mac mini. The previous base model sold for $599 and included an M4 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. The least expensive version now costs $799 while keeping the same M4 and 16GB of RAM. but doubling the storage to 512GB.
Apple’s explanation for the broader shift isn’t hard to connect: demand for memory-heavy AI systems is stressing the chip market that other consumer devices rely on.
AI companies have been buying up much of the available supply of DRAM and NAND flash storage. The result is a severe shortage for everyone else, pushing up costs for the remaining chips and squeezing manufacturers’ margins. On top of that. the three dominant memory suppliers—Samsung Electronics. SK Hynix. and Micron Technology—have shifted limited resources and budgets toward higher-margin. enterprise components. leaving “scraps for the consumer market.”.
Apple typically purchases memory enough to cover devices for roughly a year or two in advance. But as that supply dwindles, it becomes harder to keep prices steady. When the increases arrive faster than Apple can plan around them. Cook said the company eventually has to pass the higher costs to customers.
That timing matters even more for Apple’s AI push. With Apple Intelligence and its new Siri, iPhones and other devices require more memory to run demanding features. To run all AI tasks on an iPhone using both on-device and cloud-based AI models. the article notes that you’d need an iPhone 17 Pro. Pro Max. or iPhone Air. each with 12GB of RAM.
“There’s less supply at a time when consumers want devices, and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases,” Cook told the WSJ. “We definitely need memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels for consumer products. That’s the bottom line.”
The question for buyers is how much higher “huge” could translate into real dollars. TechInsights—via estimates included in the reporting—suggests an iPhone Pro could rise by at least $200 for consumers.
Here’s the breakdown described by TechInsights. The iPhone 17 Pro comes with 12GB of DRAM and a minimum of 256GB of flash storage. By this fall, TechInsights projects prices for these parts could quadruple over last year.
For the iPhone 17 Pro, Apple’s cost is estimated at roughly $39 for the 12GB of DRAM and about $13 for the 256GB of storage. TechInsights estimates that this year the DRAM cost could reach $145 and the storage cost could reach $51.
If DRAM and storage are combined, TechInsights’ service director for wireless components, Wayne Lam, estimates Apple’s total cost for iPhone 17 Pro parts and manufacturing at around $582. For an iPhone 18 Pro, that parts-and-manufacturing cost could jump by 25% to $726.
To keep a profit margin estimated by TechInsights at around 47%. the report says Apple would have to charge iPhone 18 Pro buyers $1. 371. With standardized pricing. it adds. Apple would likely set that price at least $1. 399—an increase of $200 compared with the $1. 099 currently charged for the iPhone 17 Pro.
Apple has traditionally tried to keep pricing steady from one iPhone generation to the next. But with the chip market under strain, the pressure could break that rhythm this year.
One detail in Cook’s comments makes that feel less like a possibility and more like a countdown: he said the situation has become unsustainable, and that despite mitigation efforts, price increases are now unavoidable.
Apple price increases Tim Cook iPhone Pro pricing memory chips DRAM shortage NAND flash costs Apple Intelligence Siri TechInsights Mac mini price change Samsung SK Hynix Micron