Apple CEO John Ternus Calls Memory Pricing “Unprecedented”

Apple CEO John Ternus said memory pricing is “unprecedented” during a conference call after the company reported its fiscal third-quarter results. The Guardian reported his remarks.

Ternus said memory costs are expected to rise further in the final quarter of 2026 compared with the rest of the year. Apple told investors that higher memory costs would erode some profit margins, despite results that beat analyst expectations. The source says the company’s stock fell after the warning.

Apple has raised prices for Macs, iPads and, more recently, iPhones. Ternus said those increases had provided “some offset” to rising component costs. The source notes that Tim Cook had warned of “significantly higher memory costs” before Apple’s June 2026 price increases.

The report also highlights the price of memory upgrades in the Mac Studio: a configuration with 512GB of RAM now costs more than twice as much as one with 256GB, according to the source. It says buying two 256GB models would cost less, while also providing two CPUs and GPUs.

The source does not quantify the expected effect on Apple’s margins or say whether further price increases will follow. It suggests that rising memory costs could affect Macs, iPhones and iPads, potentially into 2027.