Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads as memory costs skyrocket

Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab raised iPad and MacBook prices on Thursday, saying it could no longer shield customers from soaring memory and storage chip ​costs driven by the AI industry's datacenter buildout.

The move does not affect Apple's main cash cow, the iPhone. But it would take starting price of the Neo - ‌its lowest priced laptop aimed at winning marketshare from affordable Windows and Chromebook laptops - from $599 to $699 months after launch.

The increase shows even the world's most valuable consumer electronics company with supply chain relationships that are the envy of the industry is not immune to a memory price surge that has dulled the outlook for smartphone and PC sales.