Apple Raises Mac and iPad Prices to Tackle Memory Shortage Driven by AI Expansion

Apple announced a broad price increase across its Mac and iPad product lines tonight, attributing the move to soaring memory chip and storage costs triggered by the rapid expansion of AI data centers.

“The consumer electronics industry is facing unprecedented challenges,” Apple said in a statement. “The explosive growth of AI data centers has led to a surge in storage demand. We have never seen component prices rise at this magnitude and speed. We had been absorbing these cost pressures internally, but we can no longer do so and have begun raising prices on several products, including the iPad and Mac models announced today.”

The price adjustments are substantial across the board. The MacBook Neo now starts at ¥5,499, up from ¥4,599 — a ¥900 increase. The MacBook Air jumps from ¥8,499 to ¥9,999, while the MacBook Pro climbs from ¥13,499 to ¥15,999. The iMac moves from ¥10,999 to ¥12,499.

On the iPad side, the iPad Pro now starts at ¥10,799 (up from ¥8,999), the iPad Air at ¥5,999 (up from ¥4,799), and the iPad mini at ¥4,799 (up from ¥3,999). Even the base-model iPad saw its entry price rise from ¥2,999 to ¥3,799.

The price hikes come as the entire semiconductor industry grapples with tight DRAM and NAND supply, largely driven by hyperscale AI infrastructure buildouts consuming ever-growing amounts of high-bandwidth memory and conventional storage. Apple’s move follows similar warnings from other hardware vendors about structurally higher memory costs in the AI era.