If you've shopped for a laptop, tablet or games console recently, you may have been shocked by the price tag. Apple has hiked iPad and MacBook prices by nearly 20%, Xbox has raised console costs for the third time in just over a year, and even the newly announced Nintendo Switch 2 and Valve's Steam Deck have become more expensive. The common culprit? A massive surge in demand for the memory and storage chips that power everything from phones to AI data centres.
At its simplest, we are in the middle of a "components crisis", as Xbox described it, driven by the AI boom. The same advanced memory chips—especially DRAM (dynamic random access memory) and NAND flash storage—are needed both for consumer gadgets and for the sprawling data centres that train and run AI models. Over the past year, AI companies like Nvidia have signed long-term deals with memory makers such as Micron, prioritising orders for data centres. This has left fewer chips available for devices, pushing prices up sharply. According to industry tracker TrendForce, DRAM prices rose as much as 98% in the first quarter of 2026 and are expected to jump another 58% to 63% in the current quarter. Apple admitted it had "never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly".
“Why memory chip shortages driven by AI are making laptops, consoles and tablets more expensive.”
This isn't a one-off event but a structural shift. For years, tech got cheaper over time as manufacturing improved. That trend has reversed. Tech analyst Paolo Pescatore said Apple's price rises showed "the AI boom was now affecting consumer electronics". The world's largest chipmaker, TSMC, has also flagged that inflation is pushing up costs, and did not rule out its own price rises. Meanwhile, consumers are feeling the pinch: a basic Xbox console now costs $499, up $100 from last year, while Xbox's more powerful model is $749—30% to 40% more than it was 12 months ago. Apple's cheapest laptop, the Neo, jumped from $599 to $699 just months after launch, and a MacBook Air with 512GB of storage went up $200.
For UK readers, these global price rises quickly hit home, especially when converted to pounds. Xbox's latest increase adds at least £75 to the cost of a console. Apple's iPad and MacBook price hikes are applied worldwide. And while Apple has so far spared the iPhone from increases, analysts expect that protection won't last. Nabila Popal, senior research director at IDC, said: "The iPhone isn't spared. Its hike is coming." She added that Apple deliberately announced price rises before the autumn iPhone launch so that the new phones' headlines would focus on features, not cost. The knock-on effect could also hit used markets, subscriptions, and even the cost of repairs as components become more expensive.
Q: Why are tech prices going up all of a sudden? Prices are rising mainly because memory and storage chips (DRAM and NAND) have become much more expensive. AI data centres need huge amounts of these chips, causing shortages that drive up costs for consumer electronics makers like Apple, Microsoft, and Nintendo.
Q: Will the iPhone get more expensive too? Analysts say yes. Apple has not yet raised iPhone prices, but senior research director Nabila Popal said "its hike is coming" and that Apple strategically timed the iPad/MacBook increases to avoid negative headlines at the iPhone launch. TrendForce data suggests memory costs will keep climbing through 2026. Q: What is 'Ramageddon'? Some experts have dubbed the memory price surge "Ramageddon" because of the dramatic and rapid increases. DRAM prices rose 98% in the first quarter of 2026 alone, according to TrendForce, driven by AI firms signing long-term deals with memory makers.
What happens next?Xbox said it expects memory and storage costs to more than double again by 2027, hinting at further price rises. Apple's share price fell nearly 5% after its announcement, and analysts warn that the iPhone will likely be affected before the end of 2026. Meanwhile, Nintendo's Switch 2 price rise takes effect globally from September, and Valve has already raised the Steam Deck's cost by 40%. The "components crisis" shows no sign of easing as long as AI demand for chips continues to outstrip supply.