Apple Signals Higher iPhone and Mac Prices Are Coming

Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the company will likely raise prices on its products soon. He said the increases are unavoidable because Apple is absorbing higher costs from a supply chain that can no longer support the company’s effort to shield customers from rising expenses.

Cook did not give a precise increase or timing, but the company is approaching the announcement of the iPhone 18 lineup after WWDC 2026, and the new models are expected to cost more than the previous generation. The same trend is also likely to affect new laptops and tablets Apple plans to unveil later this year.

The pressure is tied to wider industry shortages in component procurement, driven by growing demand for artificial intelligence development. Cook said there is a supply gap at the exact moment consumers want to buy new devices, while memory makers pass on sharp price increases.

He said consumer electronics needs stability and that memory prices and component supply must return to reasonable levels. Cook added that the situation is unusually extreme, especially for RAM and storage, and said he had not seen anything similar in more than 40 years in the business. He chose to speak publicly now, apparently to deliver the difficult message himself rather than leave the backlash over price hikes to his successor, John Ternus. Apple is following other tech giants, including Samsung, HP, Microsoft, Nintendo and Valve, which have recently discussed the impact of more expensive memory chips and strong demand.