Apple on Thursday announced price increases for Macs and iPads, citing a memory chip shortage driven by the artificial intelligence boom.
The Cupertino, California-based company called the spike in demand an “unprecedented challenge” for the consumer electronics industry.
“The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” the company said in a written statement.
The new, entry-level MacBook Neo will now cost $699, up from $599. The 512-gigabyte MacBook Air now costs $1,299, up from $1,099. The one-terabyte MacBook Pro is $1,999, up from $1,699.
The 128-gigabyte iPad Air is now $749, up from $599, while the 256-gigabyte iPad Pro Wi-Fi is now $1,199, up from $999. Analysts expect iPhone prices to rise later this year.
IDC analyst Nabila Popal said the latest price hikes were higher than she had expected, which suggests the iPhone price hikes may also be higher than expected, perhaps as much as $200 for the iPhone Pro and Pro Max models.
Apple said that while it has shielded customers from the component price surges so far, “we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today’s increases for iPad and Mac. We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions.”
Shares of Apple fell $13.29, or 4.5%, to $279.88 on Thursday afternoon.
