The latest
Apple hiked prices on its laptops and tablets on Wednesday, blaming a sharp rise in memory and storage chip costs. An Apple spokesperson said the company has “never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” according to a statement. The stock fell more than 6% the same day.
Details
• The MacBook Neo now starts at $699, up from $599. The MacBook Air (512 GB) jumped to $1,299 from $1,099, and the iPad Air (128 GB) rose to $749 from $599.
• iPhones are spared for now, but analysts expect Apple to charge up to $200 more for the iPhone 18 models due this fall.
• Factories are shifting to chips for AI data centers, gaining pricing power. Micron, a key Apple memory supplier, posted blockbuster quarterly earnings this week.
• Computer and electronics prices rose about 6% from December to May, according to government data.
What to watch
Fed Gov. Lisa Cook said AI firms plan to keep spending on data centers, meaning electronics prices could keep climbing — a case for the Fed to hold rates high or raise them. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is more hopeful the AI boom will lift productivity and cool prices, though many economists warn that could take years.
