Apple raised prices because of the memory shortage — and did it so sharply that even experienced analysts were surprised by the scale. On June 25-26, 2026, the company increased the prices of MacBooks and iPads by 17-25%, directly citing the unprecedented rise in prices for RAM and storage. But the loudest news came two days later: Apple appealed to the Trump administration for permission to buy memory chips from the Chinese company CXMT — a manufacturer that the Pentagon officially considers linked to China’s military.
Why Apple Raised Prices Right Now
This is a continuation of the topic we already covered in detail in our article about the RAM shortage: artificial intelligence is consuming global DRAM chip manufacturing capacity, leaving less and less for ordinary consumer devices. Apple — one of the world’s largest buyers of memory — is now feeling this pressure directly.
Apple CEO Tim Cook gave an unusually candid interview to The Wall Street Journal, saying that the rise in memory prices is “unprecedented in any field in more than 40 years” of his career. This is not an exaggeration for effect — according to Counterpoint Research, memory prices have increased fourfold over the past three quarters.
How Much More Expensive Macs and iPads Have Become
On June 25, 2026, Apple officially raised prices across a wide range of products. The key changes:
- MacBook Pro M5 Pro — price increase of roughly 17-20%
- MacBook Pro M5 Max — increase of roughly 20-25%
- iPad lineup — price increase in a similar range
- 128 GB Mac Studio configuration — quietly removed from sale because of component shortages
Apple shares fell by the most in the past year immediately after the price hike was announced — investors saw it as a sign that even the world’s largest technology company cannot fully absorb the increase in production costs.
What Will Happen to the iPhone 18 Pro
The most telling example is the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro. According to analysts’ estimates, the share of memory and storage in the bill of materials for the 256 GB model will rise from about 9% in the iPhone 17 Pro to 27% in the new model. That is a threefold increase in the share of a single component in the overall cost structure — a rare situation for any electronics manufacturer.
The specific numbers are even more telling: the contract price for a 12 GB LPDDR5X module rose from about $120 at the beginning of 2026 to $145 — in just six months.
What CXMT Is and Why a Deal With It Is So Controversial
CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies) is China’s largest DRAM manufacturer. The company has already demonstrated the ability to produce modern chips: late last year, it showed production-ready DDR5-8000 and LPDDR5X-10667 modules.
Why CXMT Is on the “Blacklist”
The problem is not a formal ban, but the company’s status. CXMT has been placed on the Pentagon’s so-called 1260H list — a list of Chinese companies that, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, are linked to the People’s Liberation Army of China. This is not a full trade ban (like the “Entity List”), but working with companies on the 1260H list creates serious reputational and political risks.
Apple currently buys memory from three suppliers: Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix. All three are themselves under pressure from demand from AI data centers. Adding CXMT as a fourth supplier would allow Apple to diversify its supply chain and potentially reduce prices.
Who Opposes the Deal
House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar called the potential deal a “serious mistake,” saying that cooperation with a Chinese military-linked company would harm U.S. technological independence. Former national security officials are even harsher — one of them directly said the administration has a choice: “preserve American memory for security and competitiveness, or sell it out so Tim Cook can squeeze a few more points of margin.”
Why This Is Not the First Similar Case for Apple
The situation has a historical precedent. In 2022, Apple already considered buying memory from another Chinese manufacturer — YMTC — for iPhones sold in the Chinese market. At the time, U.S. lawmakers immediately warned the company about possible consequences, and YMTC eventually ended up on the full “Entity List” — the strictest level of restrictions.
This creates an obvious precedent: even if Apple receives permission for CXMT now, there are no guarantees that the situation will not repeat itself and the company will not once again end up at the center of a controversy.
How This Is Connected to the Apple CEO Change
This moment overlaps with an important corporate transition. Tim Cook will hand over the CEO role to his successor John Ternus on September 1, 2026 — something we have already written about. Cook openly admitted that the memory shortage issue most likely will not be resolved anytime soon and is effectively being passed on to the new leader.
This means that Ternus will have to decide whether to continue lobbying for a deal with CXMT and how to balance Apple’s product costs with political pressure in Washington — and he will have to do it during his first months as CEO.
What This Means for Apple Device Buyers
The practical consequences of the memory shortage are already noticeable and will continue to intensify.
Prices for new Macs and iPads have already increased by 17-25% — and this may not be the last increase if the memory situation does not improve by the end of 2026.
iPhone 18 Pro, which will be released in fall 2026, risks having the highest memory-related share of cost in the lineup’s history — which will affect the final retail price, especially for versions with large storage capacities.
Configurations with minimal memory capacity may become rarer — as the example of the 128 GB Mac Studio showed, manufacturers sometimes simply remove variants from sale when they become economically unviable at current component prices.
In Brief: The Key Facts About Apple’s Price Hike and the CXMT Deal
- Apple raised prices because of the memory shortage for MacBooks and iPads by 17-25% — announced on June 25, 2026
- Tim Cook: the rise in memory prices is “unprecedented in 40+ years” of his career
- DRAM prices have increased fourfold over three quarters (Counterpoint Research)
- iPhone 18 Pro: memory’s share of production cost will rise from 9% to 27%
- Apple is asking permission to buy chips from China’s CXMT — a company on the Pentagon’s 1260H list
- The chairman of the China Committee calls this a “serious mistake”
- The decision will fall to the new CEO John Ternus from September 1, 2026
- The 2022 YMTC precedent shows that approval is not guaranteed
FAQ
Why did Apple raise prices in 2026? Because of a record increase in prices for RAM and storage, driven by demand from AI data centers for DRAM chips. CEO Tim Cook called the situation “unprecedented in 40+ years.”
What is CXMT and why does Apple want to work with it? CXMT is China’s largest DRAM manufacturer. Apple wants to add it as a fourth supplier alongside Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix to diversify supply and reduce component costs.
Is Apple already allowed to buy chips from CXMT? It is not formally banned, but CXMT is on the Pentagon’s 1260H list as a company linked to China’s military. Working with it carries serious political and reputational risks for Apple.
How will this affect the price of the iPhone 18 Pro? The share of memory and storage in the cost of the 256 GB model will rise from about 9% to 27% compared with the iPhone 17 Pro — and this may affect the final retail price.
The article was prepared by the TechVisor team — practical IT media for people.
