AI push hits Apple: MacBook and iPad prices rise as shares fall

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AI push hits Apple

New price tags

Apple raised prices on several MacBook and iPad models at once, Reuters reported. The company’s most affordable laptop, the MacBook Neo, rose from $599 to $699. The MacBook Air with 512GB of storage now costs $1,299 instead of $1,099. The MacBook Pro with 1TB of storage rose from $1,699 to $1,999.

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Tablet prices also increased. The iPad Air with 128GB of storage rose from $599 to $749. The iPad Pro Wi-Fi with 256GB of storage now costs $1,199 instead of $999.

Investors reacted to Apple’s decision by selling the stock. According to TradingView, AAPL fell to $275, losing almost $18 in one day. Over five days, the stock fell by 7.7%, and over the month, it lost 11%.

Race for memory

The main reason for the price increases is the sharp rise in the cost of memory and storage. Apple said it had never seen component prices rise this quickly. According to TrendForce, prices for DRAM memory, which is used in almost all modern devices, rose by nearly 98% in the first quarter of 2026. Another jump of 58% to 63% is expected in the second quarter.

The shortage emerged because of data centers for artificial intelligence. Companies are building more servers for AI models, and those servers require large amounts of memory. Chipmakers are shifting capacity toward those orders because they are more expensive and more profitable than regular memory for laptops, tablets and smartphones.

Micron became one of the main beneficiaries. The company said customers had committed $22 billion to secure supplies of memory chips. Against this backdrop, Micron shares rose by more than 18%, while the company’s market value exceeded $1.39 trillion. At one point, Micron surpassed Meta by market capitalization and came close to Tesla.

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Micron’s financial results also surged. The company’s quarterly revenue rose to $41.5 billion from $9.3 billion a year earlier. Profit increased to $28.2 billion from $1.9 billion. Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said demand for DRAM and NAND continues to significantly exceed supply. According to him, tight conditions will persist beyond 2027, while supply will begin to improve gradually only in 2028.

iPhone’s turn

However, the price increase did not affect the iPhone. It is Apple’s main product, so the company did not change its price at the same time as MacBooks and iPads. But analysts already expect smartphones to become more expensive in the coming months.

According to Counterpoint Research, higher memory and storage costs could add about $200 in expenses for Apple per iPhone. Analysts believe the company could raise prices by a similar amount, mainly for models with more memory.

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Apple has another reason to promote more expensive versions. New Apple Intelligence features require more RAM. IDC expects all new iPhone models to move to 12GB of RAM. At the same time, about 54% of iPhones shipped since 2022 will not be able to support the full set of new Siri features.

Demand test

The price increases for MacBooks and iPads show that the AI boom is already affecting not only the chip and data center markets, but also ordinary buyers of consumer electronics. Memory has become more expensive, component makers are receiving record orders, and Apple has to choose between lower margins and higher prices for customers.

The main risk is now demand. If buyers start delaying device upgrades, pressure on Apple shares may persist. If the iPhone becomes more expensive, that risk will become even more visible, since smartphones remain Apple’s key product and one of its most important sources of revenue.

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