Apple on Thursday announced that it is raising prices on its MacBook Neo, MacBook Air and iPad line-ups because of the skyrocketing cost of memory used in the devices. File Photo by Patrick Seeger/EPA
Apple announced on Thursday that it is raising prices on several laptop and tablet product lines because of increasing costs for memory, causing its stock price to drop later in the day.
The technology company said that, because of chip shortages linked to the artificial intelligence industry, prices for MacBook Neo, MacBook Air, iMac and iPad models would increase by $100 to $300.
The price hikes, which Apple updated on its online store this afternoon, also include the Apple TV, the Apple Vision Pro headset and the HomePod speaker, CNN reported.
Apple’s stock started the day down 4.5% after its announcement, and ended the day down 6.12%, which is its largest one-day drop in months.
The increases do not include the iPhone, Apple Watch or AirPods, but Apple CEO Tim Cook said recently that the rising cost of memory has made it “unsustainable” for the company to avoid price increases this year.
“The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage,” Apple told NBC News in a statement.
“We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” the company said. “We have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today’s increases for iPad and Mac.”
While Apple said it is “working tirelessly to find solutions,” it is one of several technology companies that has been affected by the cost of components.
As the AI development push has become a more significant power to the global economy, the demand for processing power, memory and storage chips for the technologies has skyrocketed — as have their costs.
The majority of processors used in Apple products are manufactured in Taiwan, but Apple announced on June 18 that it is partnering with Intel to design and manufacture computer chips in the United States.
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