Apple's price hike choice almost guarantees more expensive iPhones as the RAM crisis is far from over: 'We are not at the bottom and will take more time to climb out,' expert says

Date:
Thu, 25 Jun 2026 19:03:40 +0000

Description:
The RAM crisis forced Apple's hand, and the price hikes we just experienced will likely be repeated when all the new iPhones arrive in September.

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 We now know with more certainty than before that your next iPhone, especially if it's a more affordable
model, will probably be more expensive come September.

Allow me to walk you back through my reasoning. At approximately 8:30AM ET
the RAM crisis reached Apple shores in the form of price hikes across
multiple product categories, including MacBooks, Macs, iPads, and HomePods. Latest Videos From Watch full video here:

It was inevitable and, as Apple told us, the culprit is clear: "The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage."

It's the component crunch we've seen repeated over and over again. Everything from the latest gaming rigs to storage and memory is getting more expensive. You may like Apple warns on RAM pricing and Samsung echoes those sentiments Apple just announced big price hikes across its major products and yes, RAM prices are to blame Time to upgrade? Apple price hikes tipped to be fairly imminent

And it's only going to get worse.

"We are not at the bottom and will take more time to climb out," wrote Creative Strategies Founder and longtime analyst Tim Bajarin when I asked him via email if this marked a tipping point for our RAM crisis travails. It did feel like Apple held off as long as possible, and I think Bajarin concurs, "Apple had no choice," he wrote to me. 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. No RAM crisis end in sight Not only does Bajarin see the issue continuing, but he thinks it could drag on for years.
As he wrote in his recent Forbes column , with just a few major memory factories already "maxed out" and those under construction years away from coming online, "I see this memory squeeze at the least lasting another two years," he told me via email.

This aligns, by the way, with reports we've seen elsewhere from those who run these memory plants.

"We expect tight conditions to persist beyond calendar 2027 as a result of AI-driven demand across all segments coupled with structural supply constraints," said Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra in a recent earnings report. What to read next RAM crisis strikes again Microsoft Surface laptops just leapt in price Tim Cook warns that 'price increases are unavoidable' for
Apple products Memory expert predicts huge RAM price hikes over the rest of 2026

We've all been wondering if and when the RAM crisis would affect iPhone prices, and while the fresh price hikes miss out iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods, Apple's comment on why it raised the prices now, makes it clear that they're probablly not done: "We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including todays increases for iPad and Mac."

Did you pick up the key phrase? "need to begin raising prices". Apple didn't say, "we've raised the prices," and instead opened the door to further hikes.

Those price increases might come to the full lineups in affected product categories, but I believe that this issue will affect the anticipated iPhone 18 launch in September.

But wait. It gets worse. An affordability crisis Bajarin says the price/performance trajectory we've seen for decades (more and faster/better tech for lower prices) is, with this component crisis reversing itself,
making it harder to build affordable devices, or rather devices at affordable prices, because one of the key components is exponentially more expensive
than ever. We already have some evidence of this with Nothing cancelling its affordable model in response to RAM crisis.

This means that those who usually buy the iPhone Pro, iPhone Pro Max, and iPhone Air might easily absorb higher prices because they can probably
already afford them.

It's with base models like the anticipated iPhone 18 where a dramatic
increase could push the phone out of reach. This will, by the way, affect Android phones too (see Nothing, above), especially, Bajarin notes, those affordable handsets sold around the world.

You see, they all source their memory from the same handful of suppliers.
It's all in shorter supply and more expensive.

In the end, if any of us thought Apple could hold out indefinitely and show the industry a way around this AI-led RAM crisis (the AI boom isn't slowing down, and its demands on energy, water, and memory will probably only increase), they were mistaken. Apple isn't magic, RAM doesn't grow on trees, and we're in for a very rough couple of years. A look at all the Apple price hikes Swipe to scroll horizontally iPad price changes US

Device

Old price

New price

Increase

iPad

$349

$449

$100 (29%)

iPad Air 11

$599

$749

$150 (25%)

iPad Air 13

$749

$949

$200 (27%)

iPad Pro 11

$999

$1,199

$200 (20%)

iPad Pro 13

$1,299

$1,499

$200 (15%)

iPad mini

$499

$599

$100 (20%) Swipe to scroll horizontally iPad price changes UK

Device

Old price

New price

Increase

iPad

329

429

100 (30%)

iPad Air 11

599

749

150 (25%)

iPad Air 13

799

949

150 (19%)

iPad Pro 11

999

1,199

200 (20%)

iPad Pro 13

1,299

1,499

200 (15%)

iPad mini

499

599

100 (20%) Swipe to scroll horizontally Mac price changes US

Device

Old price

New price

Increase

MacBook Neo

$599

$699

$100 (17%)

MacBook Air 13

$1,099

$1,299

$200 (18%)

MacBook Air 15

$1,299

$1,499

$200 (15%)

MacBook Pro M5

$1,699

$1,999

$300 (18%)

MacBook Pro M5 Pro

$2,199

$2,499

$300 (14%)

MacBook Pro M5 Max

$3,599

$4,099

$500 (14%)

Mac mini*

$599

$799

$200 (33%)

iMac

$1,299

$1,499

$200 (15%)

Mac Studio (M4 Max)

$1,999

$2,499

$500 (25%)

Mac Studio (M3 Ultra)

$3,999

$5,299

$1,300 (33%) Swipe to scroll horizontally Mac price changes UK

Device

Old price

New price

Increase

MacBook Neo

599

699

100 (17%)

MacBook Air 13

1,099

1,299

200 (18%)

MacBook Air 15

1,299

1,499

200 (15%)

MacBook Pro M5

1,699

1,999

300 (18%)

MacBook Pro M5 Pro

2,199

2,499

300 (14%)

MacBook Pro M5 Max

3,599

4,099

500 (14%)

Mac mini*

699

799

100 (14%)

iMac

1,299

1,499

200 (15%)

Mac Studio (M4 Max)

1,999

2,499

500 (25%)

Mac Studio (M3 Ultra)

3,999

5,299

1,300 (33%) Swipe to scroll horizontally Other price changes US

Device

Old price

New price

Increase

HomePod mini

$99

$129

$30 (30%)

HomePod

$299

$349

$50 (17%)

Apple TV 4K

$129

$199

$70 (54%)

Vision Pro

$3,499

$3,699

$200 (6%) Swipe to scroll horizontally Other price changes UK

Device

Old price

New price

Increase

HomePod mini

99

129

30 (30%)

HomePod

299

349

50 (17%)

Apple TV 4K

149

199

50 (34%)

Vision Pro

3,199

3,499

300 (9%) Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/iphone/apples-price-hike-choice-almost-guaran tees-more-expensive-iphones-as-the-ram-crisis-is-far-from-over-we-are-not-at-t he-bottom-and-will-take-more-time-to-climb-out-expert-says


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