Apple has increased the prices for several of its products, including iPads and MacBooks, with costs for these in India up by nearly ₹ 1 lakh in some cases.The 14-inch MacBook Pro equipped with the M5 Pro chip now starts at ₹2,99,900, up from its original launch price of ₹2,49,900. (Getty Images via AFP)The base prices for several MacBook and iPad models have seen a hike between 20% and 42% in comparison to their original prices. According to the updated pricing on Apple's website, the price of the M5-powered MacBook Pro lineup has been increased by 20%. The 14-inch MacBook Pro equipped with the M5 Pro chip now starts at ₹2,99,900, up from its original launch price of ₹2,49,900.The iPad Air has seen an even steeper rise, with the entry-level 13-inch iPad Air now costing ₹1,19,900, up from its launch price of ₹84,900. However, the price of the iPhone, the company's main source of revenue, remains unchanged for now. Following the price increases, Apple's shares tumbled as much as 6.Why has Apple announced the price hikes?An Apple spokesperson cited the “extraordinary surge” in the demand for memory and storage. “he rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage,” Apple said in a statement sent to multiple media outlets.“We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” the spokesperson said, according to AFP. The rapid development of AI data centers has resulted in a substantial increase in the cost of memory chips and RAM, components found in nearly all electronic devices. The chips have undergone quarterly price increases of at least 50 percent since late 2025, AFP reported.Announcing the price hikes, the California-based tech giant stated that it had “shielded our customers from these increases so far”, saying it could no longer continue to do so.“…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. We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions,” Apple said in the statement.The price hikes were suggested by outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook last week, as he told the The Wall Street Journal that price increases were “unavoidable.”“There's less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases,” Cook, who has repeatedly issued warnings about rising costs, said. He termed the rise in prices as a “hundred-year flood.”While the prices for iPhones remain the same, analysts expect these also to increase later this year, according to the Associated Press.