Apple says memory prices are continuing to rise and could remain a major cost pressure into 2027, just months after the company increased prices across iPhone, Mac and iPad.
During Apple’s latest earnings call, CEO John Ternus described the current memory pricing environment as “unprecedented,” adding that Apple expects memory purchase prices to increase again beyond the December quarter.
The warning follows broad price increases across Apple’s Mac and iPad lineup in June, followed by higher iPhone pricing in September. Apple said those increases have helped offset some of the pressure from rising component costs.
CFO Kevan Parekh said Apple “reluctantly” changed prices on a number of products as it tried to balance unit sales, revenue and margins. Apple has not announced another round of price increases, and executives stopped short of saying whether more are coming.
The company is also benefiting from older memory inventory purchased at lower prices and falling costs for some non-memory components. However, Apple expects the benefit from that cheaper carry-in inventory to diminish over time.
Apple previously warned that component inflation had become increasingly difficult to absorb. Former CEO Tim Cook said earlier this year that price increases had become “unavoidable” as memory and storage costs climbed, before Apple went on to raise prices across much of its hardware lineup.
Rising memory costs are now expected to be one of the biggest factors weighing on Apple’s holiday-quarter gross margin. The company is forecasting gross margin of 45% to 46%, down from 47.9% in the September quarter, while still expecting the December period to become the biggest revenue quarter in Apple’s history.