Apple announced Thursday that it has raised prices for some popular devices, citing demand for key memory chips also used to power AI.
This week’s announcement of price increases comes amid a broader supply chain squeeze of memory chips and other components used in electronics as demand grows for AI data centres.
This means global supplies of the chips, a key component in technology like laptops and similar devices, have been facing pressure.
“The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge. The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage,” said Apple in a statement.
“We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.”
The statement continued: “We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including increases for iPad and Mac.”
Although Apple says the move does not affect the iPhone, the price increases affect some of its iPads and MacBooks, including the popular Neo laptop, its lowest-priced option.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook had warned analysts in an April conference call that the shortage of chips meant Apple was facing “significantly higher memory costs,” and later added: “We believe memory costs will drive an increasing impact on our business.”
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Those impacts appear to now be hitting consumers as low supply and high demand, including for memory chips, usually translates to higher prices for businesses that can get passed onto sticker prices in stores.
“We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions,” said Apple in the statement.
The Neo’s popularity was highlighted by Cook in the spring, about a month after launching in the midst of a tumultuous economy that has many consumers across North America feeling the strain of rising prices and the energy shock from the Iran war.
“Customer response to MacBook Neo has just been off the charts, with higher than expected demand,” he said, adding: “We under-called the level of enthusiasm.”
When Apple launched the MacBook Neo in Canada in March 2026, it had a starting price of $799, and $679 for students.
The price now is $949, according to the Canadian Apple Store, and $819 for students.
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The federal minimum wage in Canada is currently $18.15 per hour and applies to workers in federally regulated private-sector industries.
These wages can vary based on the province or territory, as well as the sector.
At $819, a student may have to work a minimum of 45 hours to afford a MacBook Neo before taxes and other fees. That could mean having to work full-time for at least a week, based on an eight-hour workday and for five days per week.
In reality, many Canadians earning the federal minimum wage will take even longer to pay for a Neo, considering other necessities that eat into budgets. This includes food, shelter costs, transportation and non-discretionary spending.
For non-students, it may be even harder to afford.
At $949 before taxes and fees, the federal minimum wage means having to work at least 52 hours, or more than one week of full-time employment based on the same criteria.
These timelines could stretch even more if consumers look to more premium devices beyond the entry-level Neo.
For those looking to get an iPhone, some analysts believe the newest models could also see price increases as a result in the coming months.
“The iPhone isn’t spared, its hike is coming,” said Nabila Popal, a senior research director at IDC, in an interview with Reuters.
“It was incredibly strategic for Apple to make the price hike announcements prior to the iPhone fall launch, so the headlines at launch is not the price hikes but the value the new phones bring.”
– with files from Reuters
I would never buy any apple product ever. They’ve stopped innovating years ago and held back on each new model to make it better next gen. Now they slap “AI” on anything and people are too unintelligent not to buy it. Any new iteration just has better tracking capabilities that Apple can then sell to the highest bidder. These devices listen and track everything you say or do in person and online and pretty soon we’ll have to start leaving them behind if we want any semblance of privacy anymore.
Stop whining! Simple solution!
If product is too expensive , don’t buy it
stop buying over priced garbage.
Ben, it has nothing to do with tariffs. AI costs more than it is generating in revenue.
That AI bubble is gonna turn into a black hole.
I thought AI was supposed to make things cheaper. It’s amazing how things are marketed on making things cheaper and easier for the consumer and yet here we are again prices going up because of AI technology
@Anonymous Trump has put tariffs, including non monetary tariffs, on memory chips. Therefore I disagree this is all due to AI. It’s just convenient to use this as a reason for raising prices.
I have made good money selling old memory DIMMS. The market for RAM is crazy
Seems they don’t understand the concept of forward planning.
Ben, Trump is not responsible for the giant increase in the prices for SSD’s and RAM. That is 100% because of AI. Some manufacturers have left the consumer side of the industry just to focus on Ai.
But sure, blame trump for something you are uninformed about. Sad.
Blaming AI on tariffs Trump imposed is what fear does. Sad.
Buy an Android it’s a way much better phone
Liberals inflation you know carbon tax on food 7 times before it hits the shelves in gouging closed market grocery stores. Carbon tax on are energy and everything else.
Tariffs had nothing to do with it. Yet taxpayers also forced to invest in AI, what do we receive for are investments less jobs lower wages and higher priced goods.
Elbozos Up.
Yeah, I am kinda done with AI being installed on devices without our consent let alone being an excuse for paying more for said devices because of the software we don’t even want.
Enough to stop buying said products.
To further clarify:
I do not need an AI washer/dryer combo, or AI microwave, toaster, fridge, oven, thermostat etc.
I don’t even need those to have internet access.
I am tired of the mentality of everything needing to be automated. I am tired of everything being spoon fed to me by a corporation or government that thinks it knows whats best for me at that level of detail.
People claim to lack time for introspection, self-reflection, theraputic time to themselves, and yet doing a “chore” can in fact fulfill these cravings instead treating them like a burden.
Dishes/cleaning kitchen: can be part of that time you take for yourself to clear your mind and let go of stress.
The same is true of sweeping, mopping, and folding laundry.
More than all of it, I am tired of being charged a tax for waste our government refuses to regulate.
Bluetooth headphones are not environmentally friendly. We took something that had achieved perfect fidelity and sound quality, and said, uhg, wires are so cumbersome, lets switch to something that generates more carbon emmissions.
Its this technology for the sake of it that has literally become toxic.
We are at a stage in this country where we consider it a burden for non-intoxicated people to have ignition locks to prevent intoxification, but will burden every business, government, and citizen with proving they are not children to use that device very device or technology.
Won’t cost me a cent, I don’t buy Apple products.
You know the memory integrated circuits in a hand held device is not the same as the ones in Servers and associated equipment.
This is just Apple raising prices because it is what they do so well. They know they have a large following of suckers that will pay.