Apple plans to raise the prices of its products as the cost of memory chips surges, the technology giant’s outgoing chief executive has told the Wall Street Journal.
Tim Cook, who is due to be replaced by John Ternus as Apple’s CEO in September after 15 years in the role, described the price increases as “unavoidable” and said the situation around memory chips had become “unsustainable”.
“Apple to raise prices as memory chip costs surge due to AI boom, Tim Cook says.”
He did not say when prices would rise or which products would be affected. It is also unclear whether the price hikes will affect the iPhone 18, expected to launch in September.
Memory chips are essential components in smart devices like mobile phones, but the boom in artificial intelligence has driven up their prices in recent months. The price of Ram – typically one of the cheapest computer components – has more than doubled since October 2025.
“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.
“There’s less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases. We definitely need memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels for consumer products. That’s the bottom line.”
In addition to rising AI demand, the war in Iran has disrupted the global supply of helium, a gas crucial in making semiconductors, adding to the cost of computer chips.
According to research firm Omdia, the average selling price of smartphones globally is expected to rise by around 20% in 2026 to an all-time high. 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, Omdia’s smartphone market analyst Chiew Le Xuan told the BBC.
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 added. “This is the new pricing reality, not a temporary spike.”
Later, US President Donald Trump said that Apple had agreed to work with chipmaker Intel to make its chips in the US. “I decided to help Intel because we need to design and build our Chips right here in America,” he wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
Intel’s shares rose more than 10% when US stock markets opened on Thursday. The Trump administration announced in August last year that the federal government would take a 10% stake in Intel.
The BBC has contacted Apple and Intel for comment.