Apple, a company known for commanding sky-high prices, recently raised the cost of several MacBooks and iPads by nearly 20%—a move it said was driven by an “unprecedented” surge in the price of memory and storage chips. The iPhone maker blamed the hike on an “extraordinary surge” in demand for the chips needed to power AI data centres, a problem that is now trickling down to the gadgets we buy.
At the heart of the issue are two types of components: RAM (random access memory) and storage chips. These are found in almost every electronic device, from phones and laptops to gaming consoles. Over the past year, their prices have shot up because data centres—the warehouses of computers that run AI services—are consuming vast quantities of them. This has created an imbalance between supply and demand, forcing manufacturers to pay more for the same parts. Apple said it had “never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” and warned that it had “reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products.”
“Explains why Apple, Valve and others are raising prices due to AI-driven memory chip shortages.”
The trend is not limited to Apple. In June 2026, Valve launched its new Steam Machine gaming PC at £879, a price it admitted was higher than originally planned because of rising hardware costs. Valve said that “over the past year or so, that has changed quickly and significantly, most visibly for RAM and storage components.” The company had already increased the price of its handheld Steam Deck by 40% earlier in the year. Phone maker Nothing even cancelled plans to release a new device, citing similar pressures.
For UK readers, the practical impact is already visible. Apple’s Neo laptop—its cheapest model—rose from £599 to £699 within months of its launch. The MacBook Pro with 1TB of storage jumped to $1,999 in the US. Valve’s Steam Machine costs 75% more than a PlayStation 5, cementing it as a niche product, according to analysts. Experts say other PC and tablet brands are likely to follow. David Naranjo of Counterpoint expects rivals to “raise prices on select products, cut discounts on entry-level models, or adjust their product lines to focus more on premium devices.”
Q: Why are memory chip prices rising so quickly? The main cause is surging demand from AI data centres, which need huge amounts of RAM and storage to train and run AI models. This has outpaced supply, driving up costs across the electronics industry.
Q: Will this affect prices of iPhones and other phones? Apple has not included iPhones in its recent price increases, but analysts warn that phone makers may eventually need to raise prices or cut features to absorb the higher component costs.
Q: How much more will I have to pay for a laptop or tablet? Increases vary, but Apple’s MacBooks and iPads have gone up by around 20% in some cases. Valve’s Steam Machine costs about 75% more than a PS5, and its Steam Deck rose by 40%. Other brands are expected to announce similar hikes soon.
What happens next? Apple’s outgoing chief executive Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that price increases were “unavoidable” due to the “unsustainable” situation around memory chips. Market research firm Ampere Analysis estimates that costs will remain high for the foreseeable future. Consumers may see further price rises on a wide range of electronics—from phones to PCs—as manufacturers try to keep up with the AI boom.