Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.Jump to contentThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleApple has announced significant price increases for its iPad and MacBook lines, attributing the changes to escalating costs of memory and storage chips. The surge in chip prices has been primarily due to the artificial intelligence industry's booming demand for data centre infrastructure.Examples of price hikes include the MacBook Air with 512GB storage rising from $1,099 to $1,299, and the iPad Air with 128GB increasing from $599 to $749. Apple said in a statement: "We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.”The rising memory costs are expected to negatively impact device sales, with forecasts by the research firm IDC predicting significant annual declines for both smartphone and PC markets this year. In fullApple announces significant price rise for products including MacBook and iPadThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

Tim Cook says Apple’s price increases are ‘unavoidable’ as AI demand for memory chips drives up costs. The Mac mini’s entry price has already jumped.

Tim Cook said last week that Apple would hike prices due to surging memory and storage costs.

Increase comes after years of company largely freezing prices on its products despite adding new features