Apple to raise prices as AI boom pushes up chip costs

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Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple plans to raise the prices of its products as the cost of the memory chips it uses has surged, the technology giant's boss has said.

Tim Cook, Apple's outgoing chief executive, told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that price increases are "unavoidable" as the situation around memory chips has become "unsustainable".

He did not say when prices will rise or which products will be affected. It is also unclear whether the price hikes will affect the iPhone 18, which is expected to be launched in September.

Memory chips are essential components in smart devices like mobile phones, but the boom in artificial intelligence (AI) has driven up their prices in recent months.

"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," Cook told the WSJ.

"We definitely need memory pricing and…