Apple CEO warns price rises ‘unavoidable’ amid AI boom

The prices of Apple products will have to increase due to the new demand for memory chips from the artificial intelligence boom, outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook has told The Wall Street Journal.

“Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” he told the newspaper on Wednesday, adding that his company has been “trying to shield customers from the increases” but that it had become “unsustainable.”

Cook did not specify the timing of the increases or which devices would be affected. It is also unclear, for instance, how much the price of Apple’s iPhone 18, which is expected to launch in September, will be affected.

“There’s less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases,” Cook said.

Citing an estimate from research firm TechInsights, the Journal reported that Apple would need to increase the price of its iPhone Pro model by $270 to maintain its current profit margin.

The rapid expansion of AI data centres has forced consumer electronics companies into fierce competition as supplies for key components are dwindling, driving prices sharply higher. Chips have undergone quarterly price increases of at least 50 percent since late 2025.

Cook has worked in tech electronic supply chains his whole career, including stints at IBM and Compaq before joining Apple, and said he has never experienced such an increase in prices, calling it a “hundred-year flood”.

Memory and storage costs are both concerns for Apple, with particular emphasis on ⁠the DRAM (dynamic random access memory) market due to AI infrastructure, Cook told the Journal. He said that ⁠more supply is being allocated to high-bandwidth memory, which is used a lot in AI servers.

China has leading memory and ⁠storage companies, but US firms would likely need specific licences ⁠to work with them under national security laws. Asked if restrictions should be eased, Cook said: “Everything needs to be on the table … I think we should look at all supplies.”