The climb of price of memory is hitting Apple's strategy hardWhat a few years ago was just another component in the total cost of an iPhone or a Mac, today has become one of the factors that weigh most heavily on the company's manufacturing bill, with direct effects on its catalog and, predictably, on what users pay.
The so-called “DRAM crisis” and the rising cost of NAND flash memory have coincided with the rise of artificial intelligence, a cocktail that has driven up demand for high-performance memory chipsIn this context, Apple is forced to deal with increasingly high memory costs, while it decides to what extent to absorb part of that extra cost or pass it on to the final prices of products as popular as the iPhone, the Mac mini or the Mac Studio.
Memory is on track to cost almost half the price of an iPhone.
The data that analysts are working with points to a radical change at the weight of memory within the cost of iPhone production. A report cited by the Financial Times and based on JPMorgan estimates indicates that, by 2027, memory (RAM and NAND) could account for around 45% of the manufacturing costs of an iPhone.
To get an idea of the magnitude of the change, one only needs to look at recent generations. In 2024, analyses of the bill of materials for models like the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro Max placed the RAM and flash storage around only 7% of the total production costIn other words, in just a few years, this component would go from having a relatively secondary role to consuming almost half of the manufacturing budget per unit.
The detailed figures show how each component has become more expensive. It is estimated that Apple paid around $17 for 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM In 2024, for these high-end models, the reference price for 256 GB of NAND flash memory was around $22. Adding both together, the cost of memory per iPhone clearly did not exceed $40 in that generation.
However, it is already estimated that the company will be allocating approximately one [unit of currency] to the development of the future iPhone 17 Pro. 10% of the total manufacturing cost to RAM and storageThis proportion could continue to rise if the price increases for DRAM and NAND flash memory are not curbed. If JPMorgan's projections are confirmed, the cost of memory and storage for a single iPhone could exceed $250 in just a few years.
This sharp increase has direct implications for Apple and, ultimately, for consumers. The big problem is that, in the midst of the AI frenzy, The memory that is produced sells virtually without difficulty, which reduces Apple's room for maneuver when it comes to negotiate advantageous prices with their traditional suppliers, such as Samsung or SK Hynix.
The impact of the DRAM and NAND crisis on pricing strategy
The global context is clear: Artificial intelligence servers are taking the biggest slice of the pie Memory production is booming. Companies like OpenAI and other major players in the sector need enormous quantities of DRAM and NAND to power increasingly powerful data centers. Given the potential to sell memory chips at very high margins for AI, manufacturers are prioritizing this segment over RAM and storage for consumer devices.
This reallocation of production capacity has led to a rapid and sustained rise in memory prices Since last fall, the general feeling among analysts is that the peak is still far off. The PC and consumer electronics sector, on both Windows and macOS, is caught between the need to remain price-competitive and the obligation to pay more for key components.
Apple is no exception. During a recent earnings presentation, CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that, while accumulated inventory had thus far prevented direct price increases for end users, the company expects to assume “significantly higher memory costs” starting in the June quarterIn other words, the protection offered by the contracts and the available stock is beginning to run out.
Given this scenario, Cook assured that Apple is “evaluating a range of options” to mitigate the impactThe alternatives range from changes to the basic configuration of certain products, to more explicit adjustments in tariffs, to negotiating new long-term supply agreements or restructuring the range to favor models with higher margins.
Meanwhile, the entire hardware sector is feeling the same pressure. Manufacturers like Dell, Lenovo, and even more niche projects like Framework have already warned that The increases in component costs could translate into more expensive equipment.And that truly affordable laptops, as we have understood them until now, could become rare in the landscape of the coming years, also in Europe.
Mac mini and Mac Studio: price increases and shortages as a response
The impact of this memory price increase on Apple's product line has been most evident in its compact desktop line. The company has made decisions that, in practice, mean an increase in the entry price to the macOS ecosystem desktop, especially relevant for home users and professionals on a tight budget in Spain and the rest of Europe.
One of the most striking moves has been the change in the configuration of the Mac mini with the M4 chip. Without prior notice, Apple has removed it from its store. the 256 GB storage optionwhich until now served as the most affordable entry point to this desktop computer. This isn't a temporary stock issue, but rather a restructuring of the product range.
Before this adjustment, it was possible to access a basic Mac mini from around $599 (or pounds, depending on the European market)The entry-level model previously offered 8GB or 16GB of unified memory and a 256GB SSD as the minimum storage configuration. With the removal of that version, the base model now offers 16GB of unified memory and a 512GB SSD, but the starting price is now $799.
In practice, this means that users get They get double the storage, but are also forced to assume an additional $200 in upfront costs.The decision fits with the strategy of protecting margins in a context where NAND and DRAM memory are considerably more expensive, while pushing the buyer towards higher capacity options, usually associated with a greater profit for the company.
This tactic is not new within Apple's product line. On other occasions, such as with the Mac Studio, certain capacity configurations, generally the most affordable ones, have already been reduced or adjusted to simply eliminate the cheapest entry options and concentrate sales on mid-range and high-end models.
Furthermore, Tim Cook himself has admitted that the demand for both the Mac mini and the Mac Studio has exceeded the company's forecastsThis has further strained a supply chain already complicated by memory shortages. As a result, some desktop models have become difficult to find or have simply disappeared from Apple's website in certain configurations.
Shortages and waiting times: the other effect of the rising cost of memory
The combination of unexpectedly high demand for Mac computers, fueled in part by their use for artificial intelligence tasks, and the memory crisis is causing, in some markets, The basic Mac mini is listed as “unavailable” in the Apple online store. Something similar happens with certain versions of Mac Studio, especially those with higher memory capacities.
In particular, it has been noted that Apple has stopped offering certain Mac Studio configurations that started with relatively modest capabilities, while the more powerful models continue to have extended delivery times. The implicit message is that if someone needs a high-performance desktop computer for working with AI or intensive tasks, You'll need to be patient and prepare for possible price increases..
From Cupertino, they insist that the gap between supply and demand will still take "several months" to correct itself, an expression that in practice could translate to a good part of the year with intermittent shortages, especially in the most attractive configurations in terms of power/price ratio. This affects both professional users and individuals who, in markets like Spain, tend to wait for specific sales or promotional campaigns to upgrade their equipment.
Meanwhile, the European market is closely watching Apple's moves. The combination of rising component costs, accumulated inflation in recent years, and a tighter economic climate for many households means that Any price increase on key products like the iPhone or Mac mini has a direct impact on the purchase decisionIt's not just about whether a model is more expensive, but also about whether the entry point to the ecosystem jumps up one or two steps at once.
Although Apple has so far avoided making direct announcements of a general price increase for consumers in Europe, the quiet changes in the product catalog and statements from its CEO point to a stage in which memory will be a determining factor both in the configuration of the products and in their final cost.
Everything points to the memory market's evolution, heavily influenced by the race for artificial intelligence, continuing to set the pace in the coming years. If these forecasts hold true and memory comes to represent nearly half the cost of manufacturing an iPhone, and continues to put pressure on the margins of devices like the Mac mini and Mac Studio, users in Spain and the rest of Europe will find themselves facing... increasingly powerful devices, but also potentially more expensive and less flexible in storage optionsApple's ability to balance that equation between costs, prices, and perceived value will be key to maintaining its position in a market where, little by little, memory has become the most expensive piece of the puzzle.
