Apple Quietly Confirms Price Increases, and They're Coming Soon

If you're in the market for a new Apple device, whether it's an iPhone, an iPad, or a MacBook, it sounds like the time to buy it is now, not later, as price hikes are on the way, and it sounds like they could be here quite soon.

This week, Apple CEO Tim Cook quietly confirmed that price hikes are on the way, as a result of a memory chip shortage that's causing issues for consumer electronics manufacturers.

Chip Shortage Causes Issues

Over the past several months, artificial intelligence companies across the world have been racing to acquire memory chips, and it's creating supply shortages and high prices for other companies like Apple.

"Memory prices have risen more than sixfold over the last year," Kim said on Morgan Stanley's Thoughts on the Market podcast, via ABC News.

As a result, Kim expects that this chip shortage is going to cause problems for tech companies.

"Companies may have to raise prices, cut specifications, delay launches and accept lower profits," Kim said.

Kim pointed out that throughout most of modern history, these chips were actually one of the least expensive aspects of building a device. However, that's no longer the case.

"AI has turned memory from the cheapest part of the digital economy into one of its most contested resources," Kim said. "These tiny chips most people never think of may now decide what gets built or delayed and how much we'll all end up paying."

Tim Cook Confirms Price Increases

Unfortunately, it sounds like Apple is not immune to the issues caused by this chip shortage.

Earlier this week in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Apple CEO Tim Cook quietly confirmed that price increases are on the way, calling them "unavoidable" given the current climate.

During a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Cook compared the current chip shortage to a "hundred-year flood."

"I've never seen anything like it in any area in over 40 years," Cook told The Wall Street Journal in an article published on Wednesday.

Cook went on to confirm that Apple will indeed be raising prices as a result.

"Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable," he said. "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 explained that there is simply less supply of memory and storage chips for consumer products as a result of the companies.

"There's less supply at a time when consumers want devices and memory guys are passing along huge price increases," Cook said. "We definitely need memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels for consumer products. That's the bottom line."

Needless to say, it sounds like Apple products are about to get more expensive, so if you're in the market for a new device, it's better to buy one sooner rather than later.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 20, 2026 at 3:41 AM.