If you were eyeing a new MacBook or iPad and thought you’d wait just a bit longer, you might have waited a little too long. Apple officially raised prices across its Mac and iPad lineups on Thursday, June 25, 2026, along with several smart home devices and even the Vision Pro headset. The entry-level iPad now starts at $449 instead of $349, the MacBook Air jumped to $1,299 from $1,099, and the MacBook Pro is now $1,999 instead of $1,699. The average price hike across all affected products is $246.67, according to MacRumors.

This isn’t a random corporate move. Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed to The Wall Street Journal just last week that price increases were unavoidable due to soaring memory and storage chip costs. Cook called the current memory shortage a “hundred-year flood,” adding he’s “never seen anything like it in any area in over 40 years.” The shortage stems from companies building out data centers with powerful AI servers, which has drained available memory chip supply across the entire tech industry.

What’s particularly striking is that Apple has historically absorbed component cost swings rather than passing them on to customers, so this marks a significant shift in approach. For the first time in years, Apple is no longer shielding customers from these unsustainable increases.

The full price breakdown

Here’s exactly what changed across Apple’s product lines:

The most dramatic increase is the Mac Studio with the M3 Ultra chip, which jumped by $1,300. Meanwhile, the MacBook Neo, Apple’s newest basic laptop, released in March 2026, becomes $100 more expensive just three months after launch.

Not everything got pricier. The iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods, Studio Display, and accessories like the Apple Pencil appear to be the only unaffected product lines right now. However, there’s speculation that iPhone 18 Pro models could see up to $200 price increases later this year. For now, though, if you’re shopping for an iPhone instead of a MacBook, your wallet stays a bit safer.

This price hike reflects a broader trend in tech called “RAMageddon” — a worldwide memory shortage driven by the AI buildout that’s affecting multiple companies. Recent reports indicate certain products are experiencing price hikes of up to $500 across the industry, and Apple is not exempt from this current trend.

The increases show that even Apple, with its massive supply chain advantages and historical ability to absorb cost swings, can’t shield customers forever when the situation becomes unsustainable. This moment is significant because it demonstrates how the AI boom’s infrastructure demands are creating real economic ripple effects for consumers buying everyday tech products.

What buyers should do now?

If you were planning to buy a MacBook or iPad soon, the clock just ticked. These prices are live on Apple’s online store as of Thursday afternoon, after the company temporarily took the store down earlier that day. The MacBook Neo, which launched at $599 in March, is now $699. The base MacBook Air went from $1,099 to $1,299, and the MacBook Pro jumped $300 to $1,999.

For students, creatives, and professionals who rely on these devices, the math just got steeper. An iPad Air now costs $749 instead of $599, and the iPad Pro is $1,199 instead of $999. That’s an extra $150 to $200 just for the tablet you might use for work or school.

The smart home devices also got pricier, which might make you reconsider whether you really need that HomePod or Apple TV box right now. The standard HomePod is up $50 to $349, the HomePod Mini is up $30 to $129, and the Apple TV box jumped $70 to $199.

The bigger picture

Tim Cook’s description of this as a “hundred-year flood” suggests this isn’t a temporary spike but rather a structural shift in component costs driven by AI infrastructure demands. With companies worldwide racing to build AI data centers, memory and storage chips have become incredibly scarce, and prices have surged accordingly.

Apple has been trying to mitigate these huge increases passed to them, but the situation has become unsustainable. This marks the first time Apple has publicly admitted it can no longer absorb these costs without passing them to customers.

For tech journalists and content creators like myself watching these developments, it’s a clear signal that the AI boom’s infrastructure costs are finally reaching consumers in tangible ways. The gadgets we use daily are getting more expensive because the technology powering the next generation of AI requires hardware that’s suddenly in short supply.

If you’re reading this and thinking you should have bought last month, you’re not wrong. But if you’re thinking about waiting for prices to drop, history suggests that’s not going to happen soon. Memory shortages driven by AI infrastructure builds tend to last years, not months.

The question now is whether Apple spares the iPhone from price increases for the rest of 2026, or whether Cook’s “unavoidable” price hikes will eventually touch your next phone upgrade too. For now, at least, your iPhone budget stays safe. But that MacBook you’ve been wanting? It just got a lot more expensive.