Apple on Thursday slapped shocking price hikes on a range of its MacBook, iPad and home devices – raising prices by as much as $500 as it blamed an AI-driven surge in demand for memory chips.
Apple’s website briefly went down Thursday morning, then came back online with stunning 15% to 25% price hikes hitting its laptops, tablets, speakers and headsets.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company raised the prices of all of its MacBook and iPad models, increasing the entry price of its newest MacBook Neo to $699, up from $599, while its 11-inch iPad Pro jumped to $1,199 from $999 and its 13-inch model rose to $1,499 from $1,299.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro rose to $1,999, up from $1,699, while the 16-inch model is now priced at $2,999, up from $2,499 – and a 16-inch Pro with the highest amount of storage will cost a soul-crushing $9,999.
Apple shares fell 5.3% Thursday to $277.78 – their largest intraday drop in more than four months.
Apple is not alone in raising prices. Xbox on Thursday announced it is jacking up the cost of its gaming consoles by up to $150 around the world, citing the same reason as Apple. And groups repping retailers, automakers and more have warned of pending price hikes due to the memory shortage.
“The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge,” Apple said in a statement. “The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.”
The tech giant said it has “reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products,” hinting at possible future price hikes.
“We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions,” it added.
Apple CEO Tim Cook warned earlier this month that price hikes “are unavoidable” as power-hungry AI data centers have spiked demand for storage chips over the past six months.
“This is a hundred-year flood,” Cook told the Wall Street Journal. “I’ve never seen anything like it in any area in over 40 years.”
Apple did not raise prices on iPhones, Apple Watches or AirPods.
But it hiked the price of its higher-end MacBook Neo to $799, up from $699; raised the 13-inch MacBook Air to $1,299, up from $1,099; and increased cost of the 15-inch MacBook Air to $1,499, up from $1,299.
Apple’s iMac desktop now sells for $1,499, up from $1,299, while its Mac Studio jumped to $2,499 from $1,999. The higher-end Mac mini increased to $1,599 from $1,399.
The 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pros jumped to $1,199 from $999 and $1,499 from $1,299, respectively.
The iPad Airs jumped to $749 from $599 for the 11-inch model and to $949 from $799 for the 13-inch version.
Apple’s original iPad rose to $449, up from $349, while the iPad mini jumped to $599, up from $499.
The company’s HomePod speaker hit $349, up from $299, while the HomePod mini rose to $129 from $99.
Its Vision Pro headset now starts at $3,699, up from $3,499 – and a version of the wearable with more storage costs $4,199.
During an earnings call in April, Cook warned that supply chain hurdles are likely here to stay for the foreseeable future.
“We’re not at the point where we’re saying this is going to end anytime soon,” he said, adding that shortages will likely last “several months.”
In addition to rolling out more price increases down the line, Apple could also launch new products at higher-than-usual prices – which could explain why the company is rumored to be introducing a foldable iPhone this September at more than $2,000.
Supply chain pressures will be one of the largest hurdles for John Ternus, a company veteran and the incoming CEO, when he succeeds Cook on Sept. 1.
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