Apple has significantly increased the prices of several MacBook, iPad and home entertainment products in India, citing an unprecedented surge in memory and storage component costs driven by the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The price revision follows a worldwide reset of Apple’s hardware pricing and affects multiple products across its Mac, iPad and Home lineup.
Key Highlights
- Apple raises MacBook, iPad prices in India as AI-driven memory and storage costs surge.
- Elon Musk backs Tim Cook, calling AI-driven memory cost surge the biggest ever witnessed.
- Several products witness sharp hikes in India, while iPhone prices remain unchanged currently.
AI Infrastructure Boom Drives Component Costs Higher
Apple said the rapid expansion of AI data centres has created an extraordinary demand for memory and storage chips, resulting in the steepest increase in component prices the company has witnessed. "The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge. The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly."
The company added that it had absorbed higher manufacturing costs for as long as possible before deciding to revise prices. "We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today's increases for iPad and Mac. We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions."
Reacting to Apple CEO Tim Cook's remarks in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk wrote on X: "Tim Cook, who told The Wall Street Journal that the jump in costs was unlike anything he had seen 'in any area in over 40 years'. Biggest price jump in anything I've ever seen too."
Also Read: Apple in Talks With ICICI, HDFC & Axis Bank to Launch Payment Services
MacBook and iPad Prices Rise in India
Indian consumers will see notable increases across Apple's notebook and tablet portfolio.
The MacBook Air (512GB) now starts at Rs 1,37,900, up from Rs 1,19,900, while the entry-level MacBook Neo has been priced at Rs 79,900, compared with Rs 69,900 earlier.
In addition, the MacBook Airs running with the new M5 chipset have been priced higher. The 13-inch variant now starts at Rs 1,49,900, up from Rs 1,19,900, while the 15-inch model now costs Rs 1,79,900, compared with Rs 1,44,900 at launch.
Of the professional laptops, the 14-inch MacBook Pro (M5, 16GB RAM) has now been priced at Rs 2,39,900 and the M5 max versions have seen the prices increase by as much as Rs 1 lakh.
The Apple company also updated the price of iPad. The 11-inch iPad Air (M4) now starts at Rs 89,900, compared with Rs 64,900, while the iPad Pro (M5, 256GB) now costs Rs 1,39,900, up from Rs 99,990.
Home Devices See Steepest Price Increase
The biggest price changes have been seen with Apple's home entertainment devices.
The Apple TV 4K (64GB) now costs Rs 25,900, up from Rs 14,900, while the 128GB model has increased to Rs 31,900 from Rs 16,900. The HomePod now retails at Rs 44,900, compared with Rs 32,900, and the HomePod mini has risen to Rs 15,900 from Rs 10,900.
The price increases coincide with a worldwide shortage of memory chips driven by the emergence of AI, as technology firms focus on securing memory chips for their high-performance AI systems. Increased component prices will remain a factor in hardware pricing through the industry in the next few months, according to industry analysts.
