Apple Blames Micron for Price Hikes as Memory Costs Hit Record Highs

TLDR

• Apple raised prices on MacBooks and iPads by up to $300, blaming memory chip suppliers
• CEO Tim Cook called the price increases “unavoidable” and the situation “unsustainable”
• Micron’s Chief Business Officer suggested aggressive buyers helped cause the shortage by pushing prices too low in 2023
• Micron’s revenue jumped 345.7% while Apple’s stock fell more than 6% on the same day
• Memory chip prices could make up 45% of iPhone build costs by 2027, per JPMorgan analysts

Apple and Micron are pointing fingers at each other over a memory chip shortage that is now pushing up the price of laptops and tablets for everyday consumers.

Apple Raises Prices, Points to Chip Suppliers

On June 25, Apple announced price increases across its MacBook and iPad lines, along with Apple TV, HomePod, and Vision Pro. Some MacBooks went up by as much as $300. The cheapest option, the MacBook Neo, rose $100 to $699.

Apple Inc., AAPL

Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal the increases were “unavoidable.” He blamed memory chip suppliers for passing along large price hikes at a time when consumers want devices.

Apple said the growth of AI data centers created an “extraordinary surge” in demand for memory and storage. The company said it had never seen component prices rise this far, this fast.

No extra storage or memory was added to the affected models. Consumers are paying more for the same hardware.

Apple also guided its June-quarter gross margin down to between 47.5% and 48.5%, compared to 49.3% a year earlier. Product margin fell to 38.7% in the March quarter, down from 40.7% the quarter before.

Micron Pushes Back

Hours before Apple’s announcement, Micron Chief Business Officer Sumit Sadana gave his own account to The Wall Street Journal.

Without naming Apple directly, Sadana said aggressive buyers pushed memory prices too low during the 2023 industry downturn. That gutted supplier margins at the exact moment new factory capacity needed to be funded.

Micron’s gross margin turned negative in 2023, hitting minus 17.8% in its fiscal third quarter. With no money coming in, memory makers shut down investment in new capacity.

When AI demand then surged, there were no spare factories to meet it.

Micron’s fiscal third-quarter revenue jumped 345.7% to $41.46 billion. Its gross margin hit 84.6%. Shares rose about 15% in after-hours trading.

Apple’s stock fell more than 6% to $275.15 on the same day — its worst single-day drop since April 2025.

What This Means for Prices Going Forward

Memory and storage now cost roughly four times what they did three quarters ago, according to Counterpoint Research. TrendForce estimates prices rose as much as 98% in the first quarter of 2026 and could climb another 58% to 63% this quarter.

JPMorgan analysts estimate memory could rise from roughly 10% to as much as 45% of Apple’s cost to build a flagship iPhone by 2027. Gartner projects a 130% surge in combined memory and storage prices by end of 2026, pushing PC prices up 17% and smartphone prices up 13%.

New chip plants take years to build. Relief is not coming soon.

Tim Cook is also set to hand the CEO role to hardware chief John Ternus on September 1, leaving his successor to manage the cost crisis.

Tim Cook has also been lobbying in Washington for permission to source chips from Chinese company CXMT, an alternative to Micron.

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