The Memory Chip Crisis Could Make Your Next iPhone, PS5 or Laptop Cost Hundreds More
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Tech executives are warning customers to brace for higher prices on the next batch of products as rising memory costs become too much for companies to absorb.
"Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a Wall Street Journal interview last week. "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."
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The issue: Only three main companies make consumer memory chips, aka "RAM," and all are facing extraordinary demand because they also produce the memory that powers AI data centers. With AI companies reserving supply, consumer electronics makers are struggling to secure chips at normal prices. They are now passing those higher costs on to customers.
Globally, Morgan Stanley forecasts a 15% memory shortfall for computers (equivalent to the required parts for 58 million units) and a 12% shortfall for smartphones (134 million units) in 2027.
"Companies may have to raise prices, cut specifications, delay launches and accept lower profits," Shawn Kim, head of Morgan Stanley’s Europe and Asia technology team, said in a podcast episode earlier this month. "AI has become intensely memory hungry… and simply put, data centers are taking a much bigger share of the memory pie."
A related supply crunch is affecting NAND flash memory, or your device's "storage," and experts say it could take years for manufacturers to catch up with exploding demand from the AI industry.
It's not just iPhones that will be impacted, either: Smartphone prices in general are expected to rise 20% this year globally, according to the International Data Corporation. Tablets, laptops and gaming devices also depend on these components, so their prices are primed to climb, too.
Here are five tech items getting more expensive due to the memory crunch:
Apple products
Will iPhone, iPad and Macbook prices all jump in the months ahead? Cook did not confirm specific increases, but some analysts think it's likely.
"There's less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases,” Cook told the Journal. "We definitely need memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels for consumer products. That's the bottom line."
The next iPhone release is expected in September. The Wall Street Journal estimates the iPhone 18 Pro could cost $1,299, which would be a $200 jump from the price tag on the base iPhone 17 Pro. (This number is based on third-party analysis of component prices.)
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Laptops
Microsoft's new Surface Laptops with Snapdragon X2 chips have a starting price of $1,599.99 for the 13.8-inch model with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD. That's a $600 increase from the 2024 launch price of the previous version, which had the same amount of memory and RAM, according to Wired.
It's an unusually steep increase for a consumer tech product, even taking into account the improved processors. The company blames "recent increases in memory and component costs," a spokesperson told Windows Central.
Beyond Apple and Microsoft, HP executives mentioned the need for price increases "across the board" during an earnings call in February, while Dell has hiked prices for corporate customers.
Tablets
Samsung raised prices for its Galaxy tablets in recent weeks by between $50 and $220. These increases may not reflect the prices customers actually pay, as some models are now on sale back to around previous levels.
The new 13-inch Microsoft Surface Pro, a two-in-one tablet and PC, launched with a starting price of $1,499.99, a $500 increase on the launch price of the 2024 edition.
Handheld gaming devices
On May 7, Nintendo announced a $50 price increase for the Switch 2 ($449.99 to $499.99), set to take effect Sept. 1.
"This is in response to various changes in market conditions, which are expected to extend over the medium to long term," Nintendo said in a news release.
Last month, Valve raised the price of the Steam Deck OLED (512 GB) — used for PC gaming on the go — from $549 to $789, citing the "current state of component costs and other global logistical challenges." The Steam Store website currently notes that the device "may be out-of-stock intermittently in some regions due to memory and storage shortages."
Xbox and PlayStation consoles
Microsoft increased Xbox prices in May 2025 and then again in October. The 512 GB Xbox Series S now costs $399.99, and the 1 TB Series X starts at $599.99.
The PlayStation 5 carries a $599 price tag for the base version of the Sony console, which comes with 825 GB of storage. The current pricing went into effect in April, with the company attributing the increases of $100 or more to "continued pressures in the global economic landscape."