Apple raises Mac and iPad prices as AI chip shortage bites

The entry-level MacBook Neo rose to $699 from $599 Thursday, and the 512-gigabyte MacBook Air climbed to $1,299 from $1,099. Apple raised prices on some Macs and iPads as the cost of memory and storage chips climbed under pressure from AI data centers, ending a stretch in which the company had absorbed much of the increase.

Memory and storage demand surged because of the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure, creating an “unprecedented challenge” for the company. Apple had been shielding customers from component cost increases until now, but the latest spike had become too large to absorb across a growing range of products: “We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.”

Memory and storage chips, once relatively stable costs inside laptops, tablets and game consoles, are now being pulled higher by demand from data centers built to support artificial intelligence services.

Xbox moved in the same direction Thursday, raising the price of its Series X and Series S consoles worldwide from Aug. 1, 2026. The basic console will increase by $100 to $499, while a higher-memory model will rise by $150 to $749. Microsoft has already raised Xbox console prices in October 2025, making the June increase the third substantial hike in 13 months. Console storage and memory prices had climbed by more than 2.5 times, with another doubling expected by fall 2027. Xbox called the situation a “components crisis.”