Friday, finally.
Today we follow one price tag from your next laptop all the way to a data centre you'll never see.
Coffee at the ready…
The Big Sip
Apple raised prices on nearly everything it sells and blamed a shortage of memory chips.
Every Mac, iPad, home device and the Vision Pro got dearer on Thursday, worldwide, overnight. The iPhone was spared.
Memory is meant to get cheaper every year. It didn't, and the firm with the planet's best supply chain stopped absorbing the hit.
One chipmaker is having the quarter of its life off the same squeeze (we'll name names below).
Even Tim Cook's margins break somewhere.
Here’s Your Brew
The increases aren't subtle.
The entry MacBook Neo jumped from $599 to $699. A 13-inch MacBook Air went from $1,099 to $1,299. The 11-inch iPad Air leapt from $599 to $749.
Across the range, the bill rose $100 to $300.
The cause sits in AI data centres.
They are buying memory faster than the big three makers can produce it. So DRAM, the chips in nearly every gadget, rose as much as 98% in early 2026. Another 58% to 63% jump is forecast this quarter.
Insiders call it "RAMageddon".
The winner is Micron.
Its revenue quadrupled to $41.46 billion in a single quarter, up from $9.3 billion a year earlier. The stock leapt 15%. It has locked in $22 billion of long-term orders and says the shortage runs past 2027.
Your pricier laptop is its record profit.
Apple matters because of what it signals.
It buys components better than anyone alive, and it still blinked. Microsoft raised prices the same week, and Valve's new Steam Machine shipped dearer than planned. When the floor-setter lifts prices…
The whole building follows.
Two Sides, One Mug
Pro: Component costs are real, and shielding customers forever would gut Apple's margins and its ability to invest.
Con: Apple posts record profits most quarters and could absorb more of the hit before reaching for your wallet.
Our read: The shortage is genuine, but "unavoidable" does heavy lifting for a firm sitting on a cash mountain.
Receipt of the Day
[Report] Micron Technology — "Reports Record Results for the Third Quarter of Fiscal 2026"
Revenue hit $41.46 billion, up from $9.3 billion a year earlier. It more than quadrupled in twelve months.
Why it matters: It's the clearest proof the shortage is real, structural, and a windfall for someone other than you.
Spit Take
DRAM prices jumped up to 98% in early 2026.
(TrendForce)
Extra Curricular Coffee Break Links
CNBC — Micron's revenue quadrupled on AI demand — The winner's full numbers, in case you doubted who's banking your upgrade.
CBC — Apple and Microsoft hike prices as AI crunches supply — A Harvard professor on why pricier memory is genuinely unheard of.
Cybernews — "RAMageddon" and the road ahead — The DRAM maths, plus why your next phone and console are next in line.
Mugshot 📊
How are you handling Apple's new prices?
Buying now, before round two
Keeping my ancient laptop forever
Switching to a cheaper brand
Letting AI fund its own upgrade
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Enjoy your Friday, keep it caffeinated.
Have a productive Friday.
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