Apple may increase prices on some of its products as surging memory and storage chip costs — driven by soaring demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centres — continue to squeeze the company's margins, according to a report citing Apple CEO Tim Cook. The warning signals a potential shift in the tech giant's long-standing strategy of absorbing component cost increases rather than passing them on to consumers.

What Tim Cook Said

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Cook acknowledged that the company can no longer fully offset the sharp rise in component costs. “Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” he was quoted as saying.

“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,” Cook added.

Cook did not specify when price increases would take effect, how large they would be, or which Apple products would be affected.

The AI-Driven Supply Crunch

At the heart of the issue is the dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) market, where supplies have tightened considerably as chipmakers redirect production capacity toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI servers. Cook noted that increasing volumes of memory supply are being channelled into AI infrastructure, reducing availability for consumer electronics.

“There’s less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases,” he said. Cook stressed that memory pricing and supply need to return to “reasonable levels” for consumer products to remain competitively priced.

Industry-Wide Concern

The pressure on Apple is not isolated. Industry groups representing automakers, retailers, and electronics manufacturers have warned that rising demand for memory chips could trigger broader consumer price increases and supply disruptions across sectors. The comments come amid growing concern over the impact of AI-driven demand on global semiconductor supply chains — a structural shift that analysts say could persist well into 2027.

Notably, this marks one of the clearest public admissions by a major consumer electronics CEO that AI infrastructure buildout is beginning to directly affect the prices ordinary consumers pay for devices.

Apple Leadership Transition

The remarks also come as Apple navigates a significant leadership change. In April 2026, the company announced that John Ternus, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, will succeed Tim Cook as Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 September 2026, following a board-unanimous succession decision. Cook will transition to the newly created role of Executive Chairman, where he will engage with global policymakers and assist with select company matters.

What Comes Next

With no timeline or product-specific details disclosed, consumers and investors will be watching Apple’s next earnings call and product launch cycle for concrete signals on pricing. If memory costs remain elevated, analysts expect the pressure to show up first in higher-end devices such as the iPhone and MacBook lines, where DRAM and NAND flash components account for a larger share of bill-of-materials costs.