Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook says price increases are unavoidable due to rising memory costs

The continued push for AI advancement seems to be affecting the cost of Apple products.

As companies continue to push artificial intelligence and build data centers, the price of hardware continues to rise. This has directly impacted the cost of consumer products, like iPhones, which will receive an “unavoidable” price increase according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

On June 17, 2026, Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal, “Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable.” Cook goes on to state that Apple is doing its best to soften the blow for consumers. “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.”

Apple brought in $111.2 billion in revenue in its Q2 FY26 reporting quarter. It also took this opportunity to announce a $100 billion share buyback program.

Despite Cook’s comments today about Apple doing its best to shield customers, in April 2026 Cook said that Apple is not constrained by RAM supply in the next quarter. A quick snapshot of prices shows the iPhone Air costs $999, the standard iPhone 17 costs $799, and the iPhone 17 Pro sits at $1099.

Cook wasn’t specific about which Apple products would see the unavoidable price increase. Stay tuned to our Apple page for more information about how Apple has performed each quarter and any changes to pricing.

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