AI boom could make Apple products more expensive, Tim Cook warns

Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly announced that the prices of Apple products will rise, triggered by the surging new demand for memory chips amid the artificial intelligence boom.

According to Cook, the exact timing of the price increases and the specific devices impacted have not been clearly specified. iPhone users need to stay updated on pricing ahead of Apple’s official iPhone 18 Pro launch in September.

“According to Cook, the exact timing of the price increases and the specific devices impacted have not yet been specified. However, users should track these adjustments closely ahead of the official iPhone 18 Pro launch this September."

“There’s less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases,” Cook said.

“Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” he told the newspaper on Wednesday, adding that his company has been “trying to shield customers from the increases” but that it had become “unsustainable.”

An estimate from research firm TechInsights indicates that the company would need to increase the price of its iPhone Pro model by $270 to sustain its profitability ratios.

The unprecedented rise of AI data centers has provoked consumer electronics companies into cutthroat competition for crucial components, making prices higher.

In line with analysts’ that chips have surged by at least 50 percent since late 2025. Cook has worked in prominent tech supply companies such as IBM and Compaq before joining Apple.

He further clarified that he has never experienced such a significant increase in prices, calling it a “hundred-year flood.”

Apple has been aggressively working on memory and storage costs with special emphasis on the DRAM market due to AI infrastructure.

Additionally, he maintained that more supply is being allocated to high-bandwidth memory, which is heavily utilized in AI web centers.

It is pertinent to mention here that China has major enterprises, but US firms would likely need an export license to do business with them under national security laws.