“The situation has become unsustainable”: Tim Cook explains why your next iPhone could cost more

Apple is preparing to raise prices on future hardware as the cost of memory and storage components continues to climb. CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal that the company can no longer absorb the rising expense of these parts, meaning some of that cost will eventually be passed on to consumers. The admission marks a shift for a company that has spent months trying to keep its pricing steady despite a tightening global supply chain.

“Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” Cook said, adding that Apple has been trying to shield customers from the spikes but that the situation has become unsustainable. He did not specify which products would be affected or by how much, though the comments point to a broader industry problem tied to surging demand for memory chips. That demand has been driven largely by the buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure, which has pulled components away from consumer electronics manufacturers.

The story gained traction when reported by MacRumors, which detailed how Apple already raised the price of the Mac mini from 599 dollars to 799 dollars after eliminating its lowest tier model. Some higher end configurations of the Mac mini and Mac Studio have also been pulled from the lineup entirely as the company adjusts to rising component costs.

Memory prices are spiking at a record pace amid surging AI infrastructure demand

According to data from TrendForce, contract prices for conventional DRAM are projected to rise between 90 and 95 percent quarter over quarter in the first quarter of 2026, an estimate that was revised upward from an earlier forecast of 55 to 60 percent. NAND Flash prices are expected to climb between 55 and 60 percent over the same period, also a sharp increase from prior projections.

The firm pointed to persistent AI and data center demand as the primary driver behind the worsening imbalance between memory supply and demand. The same supply crunch hitting smartphone manufacturers has already reached gaming hardware, with Valve confirming a RAM shortage tied to Steam Deck stock issues.

PC shipments at the end of 2025 came in stronger than expected, which has left even tier one manufacturers with secured supply agreements watching their inventory shrink. TrendForce noted that PC DRAM prices alone could more than double quarter over quarter in the first quarter of 2026, a new record for the category.

Server DRAM is expected to climb by around 90 percent over the same period as cloud providers and server manufacturers compete for limited allocations. Some of that competitive pressure for AI compute resources has also shown up in unrelated corners of the tech industry, including Anthropic’s recent confidential IPO filing tied to its own AI infrastructure buildout.

Manufacturers are also reallocating production lines to prioritize DRAM, which is cutting into the capacity available for NAND Flash. Enterprise SSD orders have surged as demand for high performance storage tied to AI inference grows, with prices for that category projected to rise between 53 and 58 percent quarter over quarter, another record increase.

Cook did not say which Apple products would see price increases first, though the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, both expected in September, could carry higher price tags than their predecessors. Analysts have suggested the iPhone 18 Pro could see a price increase of roughly 270 dollars to maintain current profit margins, though Apple has not confirmed any specific figures.

Pricing on iPads and Macs could also shift in the months ahead as the memory shortage continues to affect manufacturers across the industry.