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Apple faces unprecedented memory cost increases as RAM prices continue to surge, manufacturing bill climbs by $33 billion
AI demand is tightening DRAM and NAND supply, pushing up costs for device makers and leaving less memory available for consumer electronics
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Apple is about to feel the squeeze from rising memory prices, with the cost of RAM climbing just as the company heads into its busiest shopping season. According to Reuters, Apple expects to pay more for memory in the December quarter, with the CEO, John Ternus, describing the current price increases as “unprecedented. The company has so far managed to soften the blow by using memory bought at lower prices, cutting costs elsewhere and raising prices on some products. However, it is reported that its manufacturing bill has climbed by $33 billion in just a few months.
But that cushion is getting thinner, and Apple expects memory purchases to become even more expensive into 2027. “What we're seeing with memory pricing right now is unprecedented. And as we said earlier in the September quarter, we did see higher memory costs as compared to the June quarter, which were partly offset by the benefit of carrying inventory and lower costs on certain non-memory components. Now for the December quarter, we expect even higher memory costs, partly offset by a few factors. So as you know, we changed the price on many of our products, including Mac and iPad at the end of June and iPhone in September, and these price increases provided some offset.” Ternus said during Apple’s November 2 earnings call.
Memory is used across Apple's hardware lineup, so sustained price increases could affect manufacturing cost for several product categories—although Apple has not announced another round of price increases. Absorbing higher components could, however, indefinitely become difficult. Dave Nicholson, Chief Research Officer at the Futurum Group, also identified memory prices as a growing pressure point for Apple's margins and hardware pricing through the holiday season and into 2027. According to him, Apple is in a different position from companies pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI data center infrastructure. The impact of higher component costs is easier to quantify than the eventual returns on massive AI capital expenditure, he said.
The next pressure point for @Apple may not be AI CapEx, but the rising cost of memory across its hardware portfolio.
@TheFuturumGroup Chief Research Officer @DaveN007 explained that higher memory prices could put more pressure on Apple’s margins and pricing through the holiday season and into 2027. Even with demand holding up, the question is how much of those higher costs consumers will absorb.
Dave also sees Apple in a stronger position than companies committing hundreds of billions to data center infrastructure, because the impact of higher component costs is easier to quantify than the long-term returns on massive AI CapEx.
▶️ Watch Dave’s analysis of Apple’s margin outlook, memory costs, and why its AI infrastructure strategy could give the company more flexibility.
#Apple #AI #Semiconductors #FuturumNovember 3, 2026
And the warnings from Apple's suppliers suggest that the cost pressure is unlikely to ease quickly. Last month, Samsung, a major supplier of RAM(DRAM), NAND flash storage and OLED displays for Apple, said that memory demand would far exceed supply as AI infrastructure continues to expand. Its memory division also reported a quarter-on-quarter increase in DRAM average prices during the third quarter, while NAND prices rose by high-teen percentages. Senior executive vice president of its memory business warned the supply crunch could extend to 2028 and beyond. Elsewhere, SK Hynix delivered a similar warning, saying it had secured long-term agreements covering more than Half of its production capacity for2027 and 2028. Micron, the third major supplier for Apple aside from Samsung and SK Hynix, is also benefiting from the surging demand for memory.