Apple joins industry-wide price hikes as Tim Cook warns next iPhone could cost more – Firstpost
 "Apple joins industry-wide price hikes as Tim Cook warns next iPhone could cost more – Firstpost")
Apple joins industry-wide price hikes as Tim Cook warns next iPhone could cost more – Firstpost
Publish Date: 2026-06-17 22:29:00
Source Domain: www.firstpost.com
Consumers could soon face higher prices for iPhones, Macs and other Apple products as the company grapples with an unprecedented surge in the cost of memory and storage chips, according to CEO Tim Cook, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The warning adds to concerns already voiced across the smartphone industry. Several manufacturers have increased prices in recent months, while Nothing founder
Carl Pei has repeatedly cautioned that component costs are climbing because of booming demand from artificial intelligence companies. Pei has said consumers should be prepared for price increases affecting both future handsets and devices already on the market.
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In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Cook said Apple had absorbed rising costs for as long as possible but acknowledged that passing some of the burden on to customers had become unavoidable.
“Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” Cook 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.”
He stopped short of specifying when changes would take effect or which products would be affected. Apple’s next major launch is expected in September with the arrival of the iPhone 18 series, which is also rumoured to include the company’s first foldable handset. However, increases for Macs and iPads could arrive earlier. Apple already raised the starting price of the Mac Mini last month.
AI boom squeezes supplies
At the centre of the issue is an explosion in demand for memory and storage chips used in AI servers. Companies including Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon have dramatically increased spending on AI infrastructure, creating fierce competition for components that are also essential to smartphones and personal computers.
Research firm TechInsights estimates that memory and storage chip prices have multiplied several times…
