Apple Signals iPhone Price Hikes As Tim Cook Warns Chip Costs Are ‘Unsustainable’ – Arise News
Apple Signals iPhone Price Hikes As Tim Cook Warns Chip Costs Are ‘Unsustainable’ – Arise News
Publish Date: 2026-06-18 08:53:00
Source Domain: www.arise.tv
Apple’s outgoing Chief Executive Officer, Tim Cook, has warned that rising memory chip costs have made price increases for the company’s products “unavoidable”, signalling that consumers may soon have to pay more for iPhones and other Apple devices.
In an interview, Cook said Apple had tried to shield customers from mounting costs but could no longer absorb the financial pressure caused by soaring memory prices and supply shortages.
“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 told the WSJ.
Although Cook did not specify when Apple would implement the price increases or identify which products would be affected, the remarks have fuelled speculation that the anticipated iPhone 18 lineup, expected to launch in September, could carry higher price tags.
Memory chips are critical components in smartphones and other electronic devices. However, the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has significantly increased demand for advanced computing hardware, pushing memory prices sharply higher.
“There’s less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the 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.”
Cook, who is set to step down in September after 15 years as Apple’s chief executive, will be succeeded by John Ternus.
Industry data show that the price of RAM, traditionally among the least expensive computer components, has more than doubled since October 2025.
Beyond AI-driven demand, geopolitical tensions have compounded supply constraints. The war in Iran has disrupted the global supply of helium, a gas essential to semiconductor manufacturing, further increasing production…
