Apple CEO sends strong warning on AI and price of Apple products

Tim Cook spent portion of July 30 thanking Apple shareholders astatine the extremity of what helium confirmed would beryllium his past net telephone arsenic CEO. John Ternus takes implicit Sept. 1, and Cook moves to enforcement chairman.

The farewell was warm. The connection that followed was not.

Cook described Apple's representation outgo concern arsenic a "100-year flood," connection helium said helium has ne'er utilized successful much than 40 years successful the user electronics industry.

Apple has already raised prices connected Macs and iPads. It expects representation costs to ascent further successful the existent quarter. And it warned that proviso constraints volition impact iPhone, Mac, and iPad income successful September, Yahoo Finance reported.

What Tim Cook said astir representation prices connected Apple's Q3 2026 net call

Cook's nonstop words connected the call: "On the pricing front, you know, we reluctantly raised prices. I would accidental we did it due to the fact that we're successful what I would qualify arsenic a 100-year flood connected representation pricing with exponential increases successful representation prices, truthful that was the rationale for it."

Apple's Q3 2026 numbers came successful up of estimates. Earnings per stock were $2.02 against a $1.89 consensus. Revenue was $109.4 cardinal versus the $108.8 cardinal estimate. iPhone gross deed $54.2 billion, supra the $53.5 cardinal projection.

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But the representation contented dominated the call. CFO Kevan Parekh said that without rising representation costs, Apple's gross margins would person been materially stronger.

Memory accounted for much than the full sequential diminution successful adjusted gross borderline betwixt the March and June quarters, Benzinga reported. Cook confirmed Apple has paid rising representation costs for 3 consecutive quarters.

Why representation prices are driving Apple to rise prices connected its products

The representation outgo surge is driven by AI data-center demand. Companies including Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta person been buying high-bandwidth representation and precocious DRAM astatine a gait that has overwhelmed supply.

SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron, the 3 companies that power the planetary DRAM market, person mostly sold retired their premium AI representation capableness done overmuch of 2026. A national class-action antitrust suit filed successful California successful June 2026 accuses each 3 of coordinating a proviso regularisation that drove accepted DRAM prices up astir 700% implicit 4 years, Rain Intelligence noted, though those claims person not been proven successful court.