Tech selloff rattles stocks again as Apple falls on price hikes

Apple’s 6% slide after it raised MacBook and iPad prices sent another jolt through Wall Street, and the impact could reach households that hold the stock through pensions, 401(k)s and index funds. The selloff erased roughly $275 billion in market value and briefly pushed Apple behind Alphabet in the market-cap rankings, a reminder that a trading shock in one megacap can quickly ripple into everyday retirement statements. Weak oil prices added a second warning sign: investors were not just punishing a single company, they were also reassessing the growth and inflation backdrop.

Reuters said Apple lifted prices because it could no longer shield customers from soaring memory and storage chip costs tied to AI datacenter demand. Tim Cook had already signaled the shift on June 17, saying price increases were “unavoidable.” The company left the iPhone untouched for now, a sign that Apple is testing how much pricing power it has in Macs and iPads before any broader move. Some models rose by more than $200, and other reports put the increases in the roughly $100 to $300 range depending on configuration. Apple’s online store briefly went down Thursday morning as the new pricing rolled out.

The stock’s decline was its sharpest one-day fall since April 2025 and its worst day in more than a year. That damage landed after investors had already grown uneasy about the tech trade, with the Nasdaq posting its biggest drop since April 2025 earlier in June amid a broader AI-led reset. Bloomberg said the weakness was part of a global tech rout as sentiment soured on the AI buildout, and the move through Apple became one of the clearest examples of how quickly enthusiasm for the sector can turn.

Oil’s move lower complicated the picture further. West Texas Intermediate was in the high-$69-a-barrel range and Brent in the low-$73s, a setup that pointed to traders also adjusting expectations for demand and inflation, not just rotating out of one hot sector. If crude stays softer, it can help cool price pressures; if the tech unwind deepens, it can also weigh on wealth effects and consumer confidence. For now, the market is sending a mixed message, but the stress is visible in both the largest technology names and the energy complex.