Apple’s price increases have moved beyond hardware. In late June and mid-July, the company raised AppleCare+ rates for Macs and iPads, hiked Apple Music subscription fees for the first time in nearly four years, and increased iCloud+ pricing in eight countries. The coordinated campaign makes clear that the memory chip shortage is reshaping Apple’s pricing across every revenue stream except iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods.
On June 25, Apple raised prices on 14 products, including all Macs, iPads, Apple TV, HomePod, HomePod mini, and Vision Pro. The MacBook Neo jumped from $599 to $699; the MacBook Air from $1,099 to $1,299; MacBook Pro by $300; and Mac Studio as high as $1,300. HomePod mini rose $30. IPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods stayed unchanged.
Two weeks later, on July 15, Apple increased AppleCare+ rates by 50 cents per month and $5 per year for Macs and iPads. New subscribers pay the higher price immediately while existing customers retain their current rate. Apple notably left AppleCare One untouched at $19.99 per month, the multi-device plan covering up to three devices now becomes increasingly attractive as individual plans climb.
Two days later, Apple broke a nearly four-year pricing silence on Apple Music. The Individual plan rose to $11.99 per month from $10.99; the Family plan to $19.99 from $16.99; the Student plan to $6.99 from $5.99. Apple One Family is now $27.95 and the Premier plan $39.95. Apple attributed the increases to “rising licensing costs,” differing from the memory shortage rationale it cited for hardware, though both pressures are real. Even with the music price hike, Apple Music remains cheaper than Spotify, which raised its own prices earlier this year.
Apple also raised iCloud+ prices in Nigeria, Türkiye, Vietnam, Japan, Egypt, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Indonesia, with increases ranging from 11 to 55 percent depending on the plan and country. IPhone prices in Japan rose as much as 11 percent.
Apple is not raising prices on a single category but it is raising them systematically across every revenue stream except iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. CEO Tim Cook called the hikes “unavoidable,” citing the memory chip shortage driven by data center buildouts for AI servers. Micron, a major memory supplier, expects the shortage to persist through 2027, meaning elevated costs will likely persist for another year and a half.
Apple also indicated more price increases are coming. The company said “including today’s increases,” implying future moves already planned, most likely targeting iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods when they launch this fall. Microsoft, Samsung, Lenovo, HP, and Dell have raised prices in response to the same memory shortage, so Apple is not alone in the squeeze. But the scale and speed of Apple’s increases stand out.
