The price of a new laptop, games console or phone is going up – and experts say it may only get worse. In June 2026, Apple raised the prices of its iPads and MacBooks by nearly 20%, saying it had "never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly". Within days, Xbox announced its second console price hike in less than a year, adding $100 to £75 to its basic model. Valve, the company behind the Steam gaming platform, launched its new Steam Machine computer-console hybrid at £879 – 75% more than a PlayStation 5 – and blamed a "components crisis". The common culprit is a surge in the cost of memory chips, especially RAM, driven by a boom in AI data centres. The result is that almost any device containing memory or storage is becoming more expensive.
At the heart of the problem is a simple imbalance between supply and demand. Memory chip makers, such as Micron, have in recent months prioritised orders from AI companies like Nvidia, which need vast quantities of high-performance memory to power the data centres that train and run artificial intelligence models. That has left less supply for consumer electronics manufacturers, who have been forced to pay more for the components they need. According to industry tracker TrendForce, the price of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) – used in virtually all modern gadgets – rose by up to 98% in the first quarter of 2026 and was set to jump another 58% to 63% in the second quarter. Some experts have dubbed the surge "Ram-ageddon".
“Why consumer electronics prices are rising due to memory chip costs driven by AI data centres.”
This is not a new trend, but it has accelerated sharply. Valve said that when it began sourcing components for the Steam Machine in 2023, it expected hardware prices to fall over time, as has historically been the case. Instead, the cost of RAM and storage "has changed quickly and significantly" over the past year. Apple said it had shielded customers from earlier increases "but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices". Xbox added that the cost of memory and storage had already more than doubled, and it expected costs to double again by 2027, "leaving the door open" for further price rises. Even the world's largest chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), has not ruled out its own price increases due to inflation.
For UK readers, the impact is already being felt in high-street prices and online stores. Apple's lowest-priced laptop, the Neo, rose from $599 to $699 – a jump of about £80. A MacBook Air with 512GB of storage went up by $200, and a MacBook Pro with 1TB by $300. Xbox's basic console will cost $499 (around £400) from August, up from $399 a year ago – a 25% increase. The Steam Machine, at £879, is firmly a niche product, with analyst Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis calling it "75% more than a PS5". Phone maker Nothing recently cancelled plans to release a new device, citing component costs. The price of almost any gadget that uses memory – from smartphones to smart speakers – is under upward pressure.
Q: Why are memory chip prices rising so fast? Memory chip prices have surged because AI companies such as Nvidia are signing long-term deals with manufacturers like Micron to secure the chips needed for data centres. This has created a shortage for other buyers, and the imbalance between supply and demand has driven costs up by as much as 98% in early 2026.
Q: Will my iPhone get more expensive? Apple has not yet raised iPhone prices, but analysts expect an increase is coming. Nabila Popal of IDC said: "The iPhone isn't spared. Its hike is coming." Apple's price increases were announced before the autumn launch of new iPhones, which may allow it to frame the rise as a feature of the new models rather than a standalone price hike.
Q: How much more could prices go up? Xbox has said it expects memory and storage costs to double again by 2027. Industry tracker TrendForce predicts a further 58-63% rise in DRAM prices in the second quarter of 2026 alone. If that continues, prices for consumer electronics could rise significantly over the next year.
What happens next depends on how the market adjusts. Memory makers are racing to increase production, but the AI boom shows no sign of slowing. Analysts expect more price hikes, not just from Apple and Xbox but across the electronics industry. Xbox's statement that costs could double again by 2027 suggests further console price rises are likely. For UK consumers, the era of ever-cheaper gadgets may be over – at least for now.