Apple Increases Prices on Select MacBook and iPad Models by $200 or More

Apple raised prices last week on several MacBook and iPad models by $200 or more. Increases ranged from 15% to 20% for the affected Macs and 15% to 25% for the iPads. Apple attributed the changes to a memory chip crunch.

Outgoing CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that price increases are unavoidable. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded by calling for the breakup of large technology companies and new consumer protections.

She linked the price rises to demand from AI data centers for memory chips. "We need to break up a lot of these companies that are far, far too big, and we need to be instituting consumer protections for people," Ocasio-Cortez said. She added that data centers are "sucking up all of our own industrial supply" and that consumers are subsidizing their development.

Ocasio-Cortez also stated that big technology companies seek unchecked power and that the CHIPS Act did not anticipate the scale of AI-driven demand. She has backed legislation with Sen. Bernie Sanders to impose a moratorium on new AI data centers.

Ocasio-Cortez made the remarks at a town hall event in Queens, New York, on Feb. 5, 2026. Apple MacBook models were on display at a lower Manhattan store on June 25, 2026.