Now That Apple Is Officially Raising Prices, Is It Worth Buying the New Device?
President Trump’s imposition of tariffs , global instability, and unprecedented demand for RAM —the past year has had a huge impact on tech prices. It seems like almost every major company has recently announced price increases , from laptop makers like Acer and Dell to gaming companies like Sony and Nintendo. It’s a strange turn of events: before, it was easy enough to just wait for new tech to come down in price. But now, if you didn’t buy a Switch or PlayStation at launch, you’ll pay more for them today.
Despite these increases, Apple has largely avoided passing on higher costs to consumers. Of course, the company has a few tricks up its sleeve: it has eliminated some lower-cost models, so the cost of products like the Mac mini and MacBook Air has technically increased, but without actually raising prices. Over the past year, not only have Apple device prices remained the same, but the company has also released new affordable options, like the MacBook Neo , which offers a full Mac experience for the price of an iPhone 16. (Perhaps being a $4 trillion company has its perks.)
Unfortunately, the issue isn’t how Apple continues to maintain stable prices. On Wednesday evening , The Wall Street Journal published an exclusive article sharing news directly from outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook . “Unfortunately, price increases are inevitable,” Cook told the newspaper. “We’re doing everything we can to mitigate the huge price increases we’re facing and trying to protect our customers from these increases, but the situation has become unsustainable.” In other words, Apple products are about to get more expensive.
Cook continued, citing shortages of RAM and storage chips as the primary factors driving these problems: “Supply is shrinking at a time when consumers are eager to buy devices, and memory makers are passing on huge price increases to consumers.” In a rather ominous remark, he added, “I’ve never seen anything like this in any industry in over 40 years.”
The article, beyond Cook’s quotes, offers few details. We don’t know exactly which products will go up in price or when. The Wall Street Journal predicts that Apple will need to “substantially” raise prices if it wants to maintain current profits to mitigate the impact of rising RAM and processor prices. In any case, visit the Apple online store and pay attention to the suggested retail prices: they will likely never be lower than they are now.
Should you buy Apple devices now to avoid price hikes?
Timing the purchase of electronics is a bit like evaluating the stock market. You can make a guess and hope you’re getting the lowest price, but tomorrow’s big sale could make your deal seem like a pittance. Or you can wait, and prices could gradually rise. There are no guarantees anymore.
Still, we can make a few educated guesses. Tim Cook is a calculating man, and while he may soon be handing over the baton to John Ternus, he wants to ensure continued growth in Apple’s market capitalization. Therefore, I suspect price hikes aren’t inevitable; they’ll likely begin with the release of Apple’s next hardware refresh cycle, which the company will almost certainly announce this fall. This could mean the iPhone 18 will cost more than the iPhone 17, or the Apple Watch Series 12 will cost more than the Series 11. The “iPhone Fold” has no successor to compare it to, but it too may cost more than Apple originally planned. If so, Wall Street (and the rest of us) will no longer be surprised when new products cost more than they did last year.
If you’re determined to buy a new Apple device immediately after its announcement, be prepared for a higher price. But if your goal is to get the best deal possible, I’d recommend doing so as soon as possible. While it seems likely that Apple won’t raise prices until the fall, the company could also do so long before then. Therefore, I’d advise choosing a device you really want rather than fixating on a specific price. Use price comparison tools to see what deals are available. If a device seems relatively inexpensive, buy it now. You can no longer rely on older devices becoming cheaper after the release of new Apple models; if the iPhone 18 costs $200 more than the iPhone 17, the usual market incentive to lower the latter’s price will no longer exist.
At least now is a good time: Amazon Prime Day (which should now be called Prime Week ) is next week , and there are already some great deals on Apple products. The great discount on AirPods Pro 3 has passed (at least on Amazon; they’re still $70 off at Best Buy ), but you can still find great deals on AirPods 4 , both with and without active noise cancellation . It’s worth keeping an eye on next week’s Apple product sales, including Macs, iPads, and AirPods. Again, there are no guarantees on what the discounts will be, but we do know two things: Amazon is having a sale, and Apple plans to raise prices at some point. Timing matters more than usual.