Apple has hiked prices on some of its most popular products, including the MacBook and iPad, because of the rising costs of memory and storage chips sparked by the AI boom.
Price Increases
The price increases affect the Neo, its entry-level MacBook that’s now priced at $699 (up from $599), its cheapest iPad, which costs $449 up from $349, and the iPad Mini, which is getting a $100 increase to $599.
Other increases include the Apple TV ($199 from $129), the Apple Vision Pro headset ($3,699, a $200 increase) and the HomePod speaker ($349, up from $299).
The prices went live on Apple’s online store, but some third-party websites still display the old prices.
In a statement, Apple said that the growing number of AI data centers has “created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage” and that its “never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook last week warned of an upcoming sticker shock and that price increases were “unavoidable” because of memory chip shortages.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
