Memory shortage crisis: Apple CEO confirms higher prices are on the way; chip stocks keep soaring

If you’re in the market for a new Apple device later this year, you should prepare yourself for a price increase. That’s not speculation—it’s coming right from CEO Tim Cook’s mouth. This week, Apple’s outgoing chief executive confirmed that the company will raise prices, calling such rises “unavoidable.” Here’s why, and potentially how much more you might pay for a new i Phone when it ships in September. What’s happened? Yesterday, outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that the company will be raising prices on its devices. Cook made the comments to the Wall Street Journal. The reason? The AI-fueled memory chip shortage crisis that is engulfing the industry. “Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” Cook told the Journal. “We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable.” The memory chip crisis is not a new phenomenon. It has been going on for well over a year now, but has especially accelerated since the beginning of 2026. At the heart of the crisis is industry demand for RAM and storage chips used by AI servers. AI companies are trying to get their hands on as many of these components as possible so they can pack even more AI servers into the data centers that are being built around the world, with tech hyperscalers like Nvidia, Amazon, Google, Meta Platforms, and OpenAI leading the way. Because of these companies’ insatiable demand for memory and storage chips, prices have skyrocketed—and memory makers have shifted their manufacturing capabilities to favor the more expensive chips AI servers require over the less costly ones used in consumer devices. As a result, the chips used in consumer devices are in much shorter supply, which means it costs device manufacturers like Apple more to acquire them. Until now, Apple has either absorbed the increased costs or cut entry-level devices from its lineup, so consumers haven’