Tim Cook warns about 'significantly higher memory costs' from June and that could mean price hikes are coming down the line

Date:
Fri, 01 May 2026 11:39:18 +0000

Description:
Apple has weathered the RAM storm pretty well so far, but that could change before long.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Apple's CEO has warned of "significantly higher memory costs" From June, we're told the cost of RAM
will "drive an increasing impact" on Apple's Macs Samsung has also warned on the memory crisis, and that "significant shortages" will continue through
2027 at the very least Apple is warning on the impact of increasingly expensive RAM with its products, and a major memory chip maker has also contributed to the gloomy news when it comes to RAM supply and pricing.

MacRumors reports that Apple just had its quarterly earnings call and CEO
Tim Cook observed that memory costs rose during the March quarter (Q2 of its fiscal year). Moreover, Cook said that in the next (June) quarter, Apple is anticipating "significantly higher memory costs" and that from June 2026, the cost of RAM will "drive an increasing impact" on Apple's products. Sounds ominous, doesn't it? Part of the problem is that Apple's substantial stock of RAM that it had built up paid for in the past when prices were still at more normal levels is starting to run dry, so naturally, something will have to give regarding pricing. Article continues below You may like Analyst firm warns of 'unprecedented and record-breaking surge' in RAM cost Samsung won't blame the RAM crisis for its S26 price hikes, but I will HP admits RAM crisis means memory now consumes 35% of total cost of its PCs

Quite what, we don't know, and all the CEO would be drawn to say is that
Apple is exploring a "range of options" for dealing with potential prices hikes due to having to pay more (much more, no doubt) for RAM.

9 to 5 Mac further chipped in to observe that Cook also commented on the stock issues with two of Apple's Macs that have been seen of late . The CEO said: "On the Mac mini and the Mac Studio, both of these are amazing
platforms for AI and agentic tools, and the customer recognition of that is happening faster than what we had predicted, and so we saw higher than expected demand."

This is down to the popularity of running local AIs on a device which has
lots of memory such as the beefier configurations of those Macs (driven by
the success of AI agent OpenClaw).

Cook also noted that demand for the new MacBook Neo has been "off the
charts", and that for all these Macs, it may take Apple a few months to address the shortfall in supply. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Elsewhere away from Apple, Tom's Hardware noticed that Samsung , one of the big memory chip makers, just released its own earnings report, with executive VP Kim Jaejune warning that "significant shortages" across its memory
products are expected to persist through at least 2027 (meaning until 2028). We're told demand fulfillment rates are now at record lows, meaning Samsung
is struggling to fulfill the level of demand like never before. Analysis: treacherous waters ahead (Image credit: Future | Nico Arboleda) Samsung isn't alone in ringing the memory alarm bells, because one of the other three big chip makers in this arena, SK Hynix, warned in March that the RAM crisis is going to be a long haul possibly making its effects being felt as far into the future as 2030 . Whichever way you look at it, there are cautions that
the RAM crisis will continue until 2028 or maybe longer. Only the third major player in terms of memory manufacturers, Micron, hasn't issued a warning yet.

Apple's plight obviously reinforces this messaging, and it'll be interesting to see what kind of 'options' Tim Cook is mulling over in terms of combating the lack of RAM supply and avoiding having to jack up prices on its Macs. Clearly Apple does have a lot of weight to throw around in terms of getting the best prices out of the supply chain, but at this point I'd imagine
there's little room to maneuver with contract negotiations even for the tech giants of the world. What to read next HP says the memory chip crunch isn't going anywhere soon - and also warns of PC sales slump RAM crisis strikes again Microsoft Surface laptops just leapt in price We are only able to supply, for our key customers in the midterm, about 50% to two-thirds of
their requirements: Micron CEO forecasts production spend increase to meet
the insane demand for memory but the RAM crisis will only get worse

Then again, having set out the stall of the MacBook Neo as a truly affordable laptop , Apple can't exactly backtrack and hike prices on that particular offering, so it seems like these could be tricky waters to navigate for Captain Cook or more to the point, Captain Ternus, as it'll soon be . It's
an interesting time to be taking control of Apple, that's for sure.

Some denizens of Reddit are certainly bracing for the worst, namely Mac price hikes. As the most upvoted comment on this thread in the Apple subreddit stated : "Oh come now, we all know how Apple plans to 'deal with the
problem'. No one needs the CEO to spell out the price increases that Apple will be doing in the not too distant future." The best laptops for all
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Read our full guide to the best laptops 1. Best overall: Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M5 2. Best budget: Apple MacBook Neo 3. Best Windows 11 laptop Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch 4. Best thin and light: Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 5. Best Ultrabook Asus Zenbook S 16 Follow TechRadar on Google News and add
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