Tim Cook says RAM expenses are ‘unsustainable’ and Apple is going to raise prices

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Summary

Apple CEO Tim Cook says price increases are unavoidable due to unsustainable RAM expenses, with potential hikes across iPhone, iPad, and Mac products.

<figure> <img alt="Blue iPhone 17 Pro in a TechWoven case" data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/257981_Techwoven_AJohnson_0002.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="has-text-align-none">Apple is planning to raise prices in response to the ongoing memory shortage. In <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-price-increases-memory-supply-199845b1?mod=rss_Technology">an interview with <em>The Wall Street Journal</em></a>, Apple CEO Tim Cook says "price increases are unavoidable:"</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p class="has-text-align-none"> 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.</p> </blockquote> <p class="has-text-align-none">Cook doesn't say when Apple plans on raising prices or which products will be affected. The company has already <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/05/mac-studio-no-512gb-ram-upgrade/">stopped selling</a> the Mac Studio with 512GB of RAM in March and later <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/922572/apple-mac-mini-256-model">raised the starting price of the Mac Mini</a> to $799 after dropping the cheaper $599 option f …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/951948/apple-tim-cook-price-increases-ram">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>
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# Tim Cook says RAM expenses are ‘unsustainable’ and Apple is going to raise prices Source: [https://www.theverge.com/tech/951948/apple-tim-cook-price-increases-ram](https://www.theverge.com/tech/951948/apple-tim-cook-price-increases-ram) Price hikes could be coming to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac\. Price hikes could be coming to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac\. by Jun 17, 2026, 9:42 PM UTC ![257981_Techwoven_AJohnson_0002](https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/257981_Techwoven_AJohnson_0002.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.012500000000003%2C0%2C99.975%2C100&w=2400) ![257981_Techwoven_AJohnson_0002](https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/257981_Techwoven_AJohnson_0002.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.012500000000003%2C0%2C99.975%2C100&w=2400) Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge [![Emma Roth](https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/author_profile_images/195810/EMMA_ROTH.0.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=96)](https://www.theverge.com/authors/emma-roth) Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more\. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO\. Apple is planning to raise prices in response to the ongoing memory shortage\. In[an interview with*The Wall Street Journal*](https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-price-increases-memory-supply-199845b1?mod=rss_Technology), Apple CEO Tim Cook says “price increases are unavoidable:” > 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 doesn’t say when Apple plans on raising prices or which products will be affected\. The company has already[stopped selling](https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/05/mac-studio-no-512gb-ram-upgrade/)the Mac Studio with 512GB of RAM in March and later[raised the starting price of the Mac Mini](https://www.theverge.com/tech/922572/apple-mac-mini-256-model)to $799 after dropping the cheaper $599 option from its lineup\. Analyst Tim Culpan also suggested that[Apple could discontinue](https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/925997/apple-macbook-neo-price-increase-ram)the base configuration of the MacBook Neo, while keeping the $699 model with 512GB of storage\. As AI companies continue to demand more memory in their sprawling data centers, suppliers are struggling to keep up\. The shortage has led to surging RAM and storage costs, as well as price increases across[game](https://www.theverge.com/games/902224/sony-ps5-playstation-price-hike)[consoles](https://www.theverge.com/games/926606/nintendo-switch-2-price-hikes-earnings-results),[laptops](https://www.theverge.com/tech/911322/microsoft-surface-price-increase-ram), and[other devices](https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/905189/raspberry-pi-price-increases-pi-4-3gb)\. “There’s less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases,” Cook tells the*WSJ*\. “We definitely need memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels for consumer products\.” Apple is getting ready to take the wraps off its latest lineup of iPhones later this year, though it’s unclear how big an impact the memory shortage will have on pricing\. The[*WSJ*estimates](https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/apple-iphone-price-increase-e846d737?mod=rss_Technology)that the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro could cost $1,299, a jump from the $1,099 iPhone 17 Pro\. **Follow topics and authors**from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates\. - Emma Roth ## The Verge Daily A free daily digest of the news that matters most\.

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Global RAM manufacturers are expected to meet only 60% of demand by end of 2027, with shortages potentially lasting until 2030, as chipmakers prioritize high-bandwidth memory for AI data centers over consumer electronics. Price increases are already affecting phones, laptops, VR headsets, and gaming devices.