Microsoft raises Xbox prices for the third time in 13 months as memory shortage drives Series X to $800

TL;DRXbox prices rise $100-$150 on Aug 1, pushing the Series X to $800. Microsoft blames memory costs and is sunsetting the 2TB model.

Microsoft is raising the price of every Xbox console by $100 to $150, effective August 1. The increases push the Xbox Series X with a disc drive to $800, up $300 from its original $500 launch price in November 2020. It is the third time Microsoft has raised Xbox prices in 13 months.

The 512-gigabyte models will increase by $100, while the one-terabyte models will go up by $150. The Xbox Series S will start at $500 for the 512-gigabyte version and $600 for the one-terabyte model. The digital Xbox Series X will cost $750.

Microsoft is also discontinuing the two-terabyte Xbox Series X, which it described as “sunsetting.” The company said on Xbox Wire that console storage and memory prices have increased by more than two and a half times, and that it expects those costs to double again by fall 2027. “We hoped another price increase would not be necessary,” the company wrote.

The announcement came on the same day Apple raised prices across its Mac and iPad lineups, citing the same memory shortage. Apple killed its $600 Mac Mini earlier this year after DRAM prices surged 90 percent in a single quarter, driven by Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron redirecting production toward high-bandwidth memory for AI data centres. On Thursday, Apple extended increases to MacBooks, iPads, and home products while leaving the iPhone unchanged.