Apple and Microsoft both announced price increases on their flagship hardware products on Thursday, blaming what they described as an unprecedented crisis in semiconductor components. The culprit, ironically, is the very technology both companies have been racing to dominate: artificial intelligence.
Apple’s price hikes took effect immediately on select MacBook and iPad models, with increases reaching up to $300, or nearly 20%, on certain configurations. Microsoft, meanwhile, announced that Xbox console prices will climb by $100 to $150 starting August 1, marking the company’s third hardware price adjustment in less than a year.
What’s actually happening to prices
The Apple increases are substantial enough to notice. The MacBook Neo jumped from $599 to $699. The iPad Pro Wi-Fi 256 GB model went from $999 to $1,199, a $200 bump that lands squarely in “maybe I’ll just keep my old one” territory.
Apple CEO Tim Cook indicated the company had been absorbing rising component costs for some time but reached a point where that was no longer sustainable.
