Apple (AAPL) Stock Drops 5% After Surprise Mac and iPad Price Hikes

TLDR

• Apple raised prices on MacBooks and iPads by $100–$300 due to soaring memory and storage chip costs.
• AAPL stock fell 5% in early trading following the announcement.
• The MacBook Air jumped from $1,099 to $1,299; the entry-level MacBook Pro rose from $1,699 to $1,999.
• iPhone prices were not changed, but future hikes remain possible if chip costs stay elevated.
• Wedbush kept its OUTPERFORM rating and $400 price target on Apple despite the selloff.

Apple (AAPL) stock dropped 5% on Thursday after the company raised prices on its Mac and iPad lineup, citing a sharp rise in memory and storage chip costs.

Apple Inc., AAPL

The price increases range from $100 to $300 across major product lines and are already live on Apple’s online store.

The MacBook Air with 512GB of storage rose from $1,099 to $1,299. The entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro jumped from $1,699 to $1,999. The iPad Air with 128GB moved from $599 to $749.

Even the MacBook Neo — Apple’s budget laptop, launched just months ago to compete with affordable Windows and Chromebook machines — saw its starting price climb from $599 to $699.

That move closes the $100 gap it had over Dell’s $699 XPS 13, which Dell launched specifically to compete with the Neo.

Apple also raised prices on the HomePod and Apple TV. iPhone prices were left unchanged for now.

What’s Driving the Memory Crunch

The culprit is a boom in AI data center construction. Memory makers like Micron have been prioritising long-term supply deals with AI chipmakers — Micron announced $22 billion in such commitments just yesterday — leaving less supply available for consumer electronics manufacturers.

DRAM prices rose as much as 98% in Q1 2026, and industry tracker TrendForce expects a further 58%–63% jump in the current quarter. Some have taken to calling it “RAMageddon.”

The squeeze is broad. IDC estimates the smartphone market will see its biggest-ever annual decline — nearly 14% — this year, with PC sales expected to fall 11.3%.

CEO Tim Cook flagged the pressure in April, warning that memory costs would “drive an increasing impact” beyond the June quarter. He repeated last week in a Wall Street Journal interview that hikes had become “unavoidable.”

Analyst Reaction

Despite the market’s initial reaction, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives kept his OUTPERFORM rating and $400 price target.

Wedbush argued Apple’s focus on higher-end consumers insulates it from significant churn. Its carry-in inventory strategy had protected margins for several quarters, but the current AI-driven demand surge made that position “unsustainable.”

Wedbush also pointed to Apple’s recently announced partnership with Intel as a key move — part of a broader $600 billion U.S. manufacturing commitment — to secure domestic chip supply ahead of what the firm sees as a multi-year AI hardware cycle.

Apple said it is “working tirelessly to find solutions” and acknowledged the hikes are “not welcome news.”

Micron’s $22 billion in locked-in long-term AI supply commitments, announced Wednesday, underlines just how structurally constrained the memory market remains.

The post Apple (AAPL) Stock Drops 5% After Surprise Mac and iPad Price Hikes appeared first on CoinCentral.