Apple has begun raising prices on several Mac and iPad models by hundreds of dollars, after warnings that higher component costs would eventually force the company’s hand. The increases are tied to a sharp rise in memory chip prices, driven in part by the AI boom and stronger demand for high-bandwidth memory used in AI servers.
CEO Tim Cook had recently said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that Apple had tried to absorb the higher costs itself, but that doing so had become “unavoidable.” He said the company was facing “huge” cost increases from components such as memory and storage, and that suppliers were passing those increases along. Apple also said it had never seen component prices rise “at this scale and speed.”
Under the new pricing, the MacBook Neo now starts at $699 instead of $599, and the MacBook Air at $1,299 instead of $1,099. Other products, including the MacBook Pro, iPad, and iPad Air, are also becoming more expensive. For now, iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods are unchanged, though the iPhone could still be affected later.
The company has not yet said how the changes will affect Israel. Local reporting says the weaker dollar could soften the impact, but the surge in memory prices may still force Israeli buyers to absorb at least part of the increase. The next major checkpoint is expected in September, when Apple is likely to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and possibly its first foldable phone.
