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Apple Announces Price Increases on Select MacBook and iPad Models
Apple increased prices on several MacBook and iPad models last week by $200 or more. The company attributed the changes to a memory chip shortage, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez linked them to AI data center demand.
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Apple announced price increases on several MacBook and iPad models last week, with affected units rising by $200 or more. The increases ranged from 15% to 20% for the Mac models and 15% to 25% for the iPad models. The company attributed the changes to a memory chip shortage.
Outgoing CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that price increases are unavoidable. Apple MacBook models remained on display at a lower Manhattan store on June 25, 2026.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez linked the price rises to demand from AI data centers for memory chips during a town hall event in Queens, New York, on Feb. 5, 2026. "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," she said.
She added that data centers are "sucking up all of our own industrial supply" and that consumers are subsidizing their development.
Ocasio-Cortez stated that big technology companies seek unchecked power and that the CHIPS Act did not anticipate the scale of AI-driven demand. The CHIPS Act included billions in federal funding to support the reshoring of semiconductor manufacturing. She has backed legislation with Sen. Bernie Sanders to impose a moratorium on new AI data centers.
