Apple Dodges Question on More Price Hikes as Memory Costs Climb

Apple expects memory costs to continue to increase in the December quarter and beyond, CEO John Ternus said during today's earnings call. Ternus, COO Sabih Khan, and CFO Kevan Parekh all commented on Apple's struggle with memory. "What we're seeing with memory pricing right now is unprecedented," said Ternus. He said Apple saw higher memory costs in the September quarter, and the December quarter will be worse. "Looking beyond the December quarter, we see the pricing for memory purchases continuing to increase," he said. Apple was able to offset September costs by using memory it stockpiled at lower prices and securing lower prices on some non-memory components. Apple expects the same factors to cover some of the December increases, along with price increases on iPads, Macs, and iPhones in June and September. An analyst asked if prices could increase again, but Khan, who took the question, avoided offering a direct answer. Parekh said Apple's price increases were done "reluctantly" and the company is trying to balance the impact. I think what we try to do is evaluate, and in doing that, we evaluate the unit's revenue margin, and we're really being thoughtful and deliberate at evaluating kind of the short-term and long-term considerations. And we really believe we're balancing this well. Ternus said Apple expects a declining benefit from pre-purchasing memory over time. Apple's inventory more than doubled year over year to $14.5 billion, which suggests Apple is buying up memory before prices go up yet again. "As we work to improve supply, our manufacturing purchase obligations have increased by $33 billion from June to the September quarter, which you'll see in our annual filing when it comes out tomorrow," he said. Apple expects gross margin to drop from 47.9 percent in the September quarter to 45 to 46 percent in the December quarter, primarily because of higher memory costs, plus some Siri AI costs. Mac and iPad supplies will be constrained in the December quarter because of memory issues. Popular StoriesApple Launching Five New Products This FridayMonday November 2, 2026 1:22 am PST by Tim HardwickApple is releasing five new products this Friday, November 6, following pre-orders that opened last week, including its first touchscreen MacBook Pro models. The following new products will be available from Friday: iPad mini with OLED display and A20 Pro chip iMac with M6 chip 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 chip 14-inch MacBook Pro with OLED touchscreen 16-inch MacBook Pro with OLED...Apple Alerts Stores to iPhone Duo's Display Cracking IssueIn a memo shared with Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers this week, and later obtained by MacRumors, Apple provided technicians with guidance on how to diagnose and address the iPhone Duo's inner display cracking issue. If a customer reports the issue, Apple advised technicians to inspect the iPhone Duo and repair or replace it in accordance with their standard procedures....14 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 27.2Friday October 30, 2026 12:42 pm PDT by Tim HardwickApple released iOS 27.2 on October 26, bringing enhancements to Siri AI, adding Suggestions in Messages, and sneaking in a string of smaller additions across Photos, Podcasts, Games, Apple TV, and FaceTime. iOS 27.2 is available to download to your device now via Settings ➝ General ➝ Software Update. Note that some features may not be available in all regions or on all iPhone models....