In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the outgoing CEO called the price hikes "unavoidable" as the company grapples with a global supply crunch driven by AI data centers.
Get ready to pay more for your next iPhone. Apple CEO Tim Cook has confirmed that "unavoidable" price hikes are coming across its product line, blaming the global AI boom for devouring the world's supply of memory and storage chips.
The primary driver behind the looming price surge is the explosive demand for AI data centers. These massive facilities are gobbling up the world's supply of memory chips, particularly the high-bandwidth memory crucial for AI servers.
This creates a fierce competition for dwindling resources, with a direct knock-on effect for consumer electronics. "There's less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases," Cook told the Journal.
While Apple has tried to absorb the rising costs to protect customers, Cook admitted the situation has "become unsustainable." The pressure is hitting both memory (DRAM) and storage components.
"Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable," Cook stated bluntly in the interview. "We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us."
Despite the supply pressure, Cook clarified that Apple has no plans to enter the memory chip manufacturing business itself. "We can't do everything," he said. "We know what we're good at."
Instead, the company is prepared to leverage its formidable financial strength to secure components. "We're willing to use our balance sheet to help be a part of the solution," Cook noted, adding, "Obviously, more capacity is needed."
While the annual September iPhone launch is the most anticipated event, the Journal noted that price hikes for other products, including Macs and iPads, could arrive even sooner. Apple is reportedly on track to release the iPhone 18 and its first foldable iPhone this September.
In one of his final major statements before his expected departure in September to hand the reins to John Ternus, Cook stressed the need for market stabilization. "We definitely need memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels for consumer products. That's the bottom line."
