Apple raises prices up to $200 on Macs, iPads, and Apple TV amid global memory shortage
Key Points
- Apple raises prices up to $200 across Macs, iPads, and Apple TV globally to offset a memory shortage, with the 14-inch MacBook Pro climbing to $2,000 from $1,700.
- Micron's market cap gains $150 billion on the news while Apple sheds $210 billion, signaling investor rotation toward memory manufacturers profiting from the shortage.
- Apple TV's 50% price hike to $200 despite minimal memory use suggests the company is offsetting losses across its hardware portfolio rather than absorbing supply chain costs.
Summary
Apple Raises Prices Up to $200 on Macs, iPads Amid Memory Shortage
Apple is raising prices across its Mac, iPad, and Apple TV lineups globally to offset a memory shortage. The MacBook Air climbs $200 to $1,300. The MacBook Neo rises to $700 from $600. The entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro moves to $2,000 from $1,700. The 11-inch iPad Pro increases to $1,200 from $1,000, while the iPad Air jumps to $750 from $600. The Apple TV saw the sharpest percentage increase, moving from roughly $130 to $200—a roughly 50% hike on a product that is not typically memory-intensive, suggesting Apple may be offsetting losses elsewhere.
The price increases are global. Bernie Sanders responded by accusing Tim Cook of corporate greed, arguing the hikes are unnecessary given Apple's $112 billion in profit last year and $310 billion in stock buybacks. The incoming CEO is not a billionaire by Sanders's claim, though Cook has amassed substantial wealth. His criticism carries the familiar tension of populist messaging targeting a visible executive while the underlying economics involve supply chain constraints that affect the entire industry.
The market reaction inverted the typical winner. Micron's market cap rose $150 billion on the same day, while Apple shed $210 billion. The reallocation reflects investor rotation toward the memory manufacturers benefiting from the shortage rather than the hardware makers absorbing the cost. DRAM prices remain elevated, and the shortage is real enough to force price action across consumer electronics. The mechanism is straightforward: memory is expensive, demand is high, and margins compress unless selling prices rise.
Separately, OpenAI secured $990 million in stock buybacks in fiscal 2025—a different kind of capital return. The company has also announced a deal to purchase 40% of the global raw unprocessed DRAM wafer output through 2029, pushing deeper into the supply chain to lock in memory supply and hedge against further price volatility.
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