Tim Cook warns of ‘unavoidable’ price hikes as iPhone launch looms

Macworld

Tim Cook is just a couple of months away from stepping down as CEO, but he’s still very much involved in Apple’s day-to-day business. And according to his comments in an interview this week, it’s getting harder with each passing day.

In no uncertain terms, Cook told the Wall Street Journal that prices will be going up, an ominous sign with barely three months to go until the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro and folding iPhone Ultra. He declined to share specifics, but he didn’t mince words when asked about future price hikes: 

Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable. We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable.

Apple has already taken some significant steps to mitigate rising component costs. In March, Apple discontinued the Mac Pro as well as some higher-end configurations of the Mac Studio. It also eliminated the 256GB Mac mini and the 512GB MacBook Pro from the lineup, effectively increasing prices across the board.

It’s not yet clear which products will receive price increases. But Apple is launching several new products this fall, including the iPhone 18 Pro (the baseline iPhone 18 isn’t expected to arrive until the spring), the Apple Watch Series 12, and its first folding phone, the iPhone Ultra. Reports have claimed the folding phone could cost as much as $2,499.

Cook said the current situation is like “a hundred-year flood” and unlike anything he’s seen in 40 years. Several companies, including Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, have increased prices due to rising memory costs. Reports claim that RAM prices doubled earlier this year and the situation has only gotten worse.