Tim Cook says Apple reluctantly raised prices, calling the memory market a "100 year flood"

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said on the company's fiscal third quarter 2026 earnings call, held on Thursday, 30 July 2026, that Apple did not want to raise prices but was forced to because of exponential increases in memory costs. Apple raised prices for Macs and iPads in June.

Cook said: "On the pricing front, you know, we reluctantly raised prices. I would say we did it because we're in what I would characterize as a 100 year flood on memory pricing with exponential increases in memory prices, so that was the rationale for it." Asked whether Apple aims to protect gross profit dollars or product gross margins, he said the company looks at units, revenue and margin together and reaches a business judgment over the long term rather than on "a 90 day clock."

Cook added that Apple expects to pay higher memory costs in the September quarter, though it will partially offset this with lower costs on some non memory components and a stockpile of inventory. He did not comment on whether iPhone prices will rise when new models launch in September. The call was Cook's last as chief executive; John Ternus takes over on 1 September and Cook moves to the role of executive chairman. The jump in memory prices is one of the channels through which costs are feeding into consumer electronics prices worldwide, including in import dependent markets such as Iran.