Consumers were always going to take the brunt of Donald Trump’s bungled “reciprocal tariff” scheme. The trickle-down of increased import costs has resulted in higher-priced gadgets, but the companies that originally hiked prices aren’t about to lower costs even after receiving their own tariff refunds. Apple seems to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of recent tariff refunds. A February Supreme Court decision nullified many of the White House’s tariffs. Instead of facing even more lawsuits, the federal government created a means for companies to apply for rebates on their extra tariff spending. Apple calculated the tariffs into its latest earnings report. In a press release, Apple said that money was worth “2 percentage points” of its 50.1% gross margin. That number allowed AppleInsider to put the profit at a tidy, approximated $2.2 billion. Apple has not revealed the actual number in its earnings report. While Apple is celebrating its margins, it won’t stop your next MacBook Air from becoming more expensive and more scarce. Last month, Apple increased prices for practically all its various products, from iPads to Macs to the lowly HomePod. Only iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods were spared price hikes caused by the ballooning price of RAM and SSD storage. In an investor Q&A, outgoing CEO Tim Cook said the tech giant has been forced to spend more on memory with each passing quarter.
The Tariff Refunds Are Rolling in—but Gadget Prices Aren’t Dropping
Amazon is promising you can get some refund back in a 'limited set of circumstances.'









