Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads as memory costs skyrocket

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple raised iPad and MacBook prices on Thursday, saying it could no longer shield customers from soaring memory and storage chip costs driven by the AI industry's datacenter buildout. The move does not affect Apple's main cash cow, the iPhone. But it would take starting price of the Neo — its lowest priced laptop aimed at winning marketshare from affordable Windows and Chromebook laptops — from $599 to $699 months after launch. The increase shows even the world's most valuable consumer electronics company with supply chain relationships that are the envy of the industry is not immune to a memory price surge that has dulled the outlook for smartphone and PC sales. Memory makers such as Micron have in recent months prioritized orders from AI chipmakers like Nvidia, helping them earn record profit but leaving little supply for electronics makers that have been forced to increase prices. "We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly," Apple said in a statement. "We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached