By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The rising costs of memory chip have made price increase for the company’s products “unavoidable”, the outgoing Chief Executive Officer of Apple Tim Cook warns, signalling a new price regime for its gadgets, that will have users pay more.
Apple has made efforts to shield customers from mounting costs but could no longer absorb the financial pressure caused by soaring memory prices and supply shortages, Cook said in an interview with Wallstreet Journal.
“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 told the WSJ.
Cook did not disclose when the implementation of the new price regime will take effect or products likely to be affected, but there are speculations that the iPhone 18 lineup, expected to hit the market in September could come with a higher price tag.
Memory chips are vital components in smartphones and other electronic device production. However, the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has significantly increased demand for advanced computing hardware, pushing memory prices sharply higher.
“There’s less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases,” Cook said.
“We definitely need memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels for consumer products. That’s the bottom line.”
Cook, who is set to step down in September after 15 years as Apple’s chief executive, will be succeeded by John Ternus.
Industry data show that the price of RAM, traditionally among the least expensive computer components, has more than doubled since October 2025.
Beyond AI-related demands, geopolitical tensions have compounded supply constraints. The war in Iran has disrupted the global supply of helium, a gas essential to semiconductor manufacturing, further increasing production costs across the technology sector.
Research firm Omdia projects that the average global selling price of smartphones will rise by approximately 20 per cent in 2026, reaching an all-time high.
According to Omdia’s smartphone market analyst, Chiew Le Xuan, Apple’s next generation of devices could become substantially more expensive.
“Apple’s new phones are likely to cost up to $150 more than the iPhone 17s, as the firm is expected to upgrade their specifications to support new AI features,” Chiew told the BBC.
He added that the wider smartphone industry has already begun adjusting to the new economic realities.
“Most smartphone brands have already raised prices, pulled back on promotions or cut specifications to protect their profit margins in response to rising costs,” he said.
“This is the new pricing reality, not a temporary spike.”
