The increase in RAM affects the entire sector and especially the computers that provide the largest capacity. However, it is something that is already seen affecting even mobile phones, especially entry-level ones. And Apple, which has been saved for now, has several fronts on the horizon to be pessimistic. Although also optimistic.
Although Apple’s agreements with suppliers are coming to an end soon, there are reasons to think about it Mac and iPhone They will be among the least affected. And that will be, among other things, because of the wide profit margins that Apple has maintained over the years. Although in the long run and given the strategy of artificial intelligence, this may be a temporary mirage.
Mobile phones will increase in price by 7% in 2026.
Forecasted market share of smartphone manufacturers in 2026 (Graph: Counterpoint)
A Wccftech report published last Sunday said that Apple’s agreements with Samsung and SK Hynix, its main RAM suppliers, expire in January. This will force a review of costs, and in a time like the current one, when the prices of some sets have soared up to 400%, it is impossible to imagine that Apple will be able to maintain its margins.
However, according to reports like the one already mentioned, or a recent study by Counterpoint, Apple will be able to mitigate the impact thanks to wide margins received in recent years, when prices for the final consumer were already above average. Something similar is happening with Samsung with its smartphones.
Apple is in a good position to avoid significant growth…for now
Annual growth is expected in 2026, with all smartphone manufacturers to be negative (Graph: Counterpoint)
Counterpoint Research has announced global smartphone prices rose by 6.9%. during the year 2026 due to a memory crisis. Chinese manufacturers such as Honor or Oppo tend to be the most affected, but Apple is noted as one of the best positioned to avoid joining this trend of price increases, albeit at the expense of profits.
However, 2026 can be considered short-term, and memory prices will continue to rise throughout the year. After that, a stage is expected, in which prices will stabilize, but will rise, while not being able to tell when they will fall. And in such a case, it is difficult for Apple to maintain prices for years to come.
A local AI approach is good… until it happens
The fact that Apple Intelligence models run primarily on devices is beneficial, as it ensures complete privacy of user actions. however, a new flaw appeared that goes beyond the ordinary.
It is no longer the case that on average smaller models must be enabled to perform locally. Or that there are devices like the iPhone 15 that aren’t compatible. All of this has been assumed with more or less gusto ever since Apple started making moves in the field of artificial intelligence in 2024.
The problem is the little room for maneuver Apple has left in the face of rising memory prices. One of the main reasons for its increase is precisely because of AI and how big companies are running out of storage to take into their data centersas other companies such as OpenAI, Meta, Google or Microsoft prefer to run their models in the cloud, as opposed to Apple’s local processing.
If Apple wants to continue down this path of running models locally, it will have to absorb these high memory costs and, depending on its intentions, In the long run, price increases for iPhones, Macs, and iPads are inevitable and any other device they want to have Apple Intelligence on.
On the other hand, Google, for example, will not need pixels to have a large amount of RAM to have advanced artificial intelligence, since most of them work in the cloud, and those memories are located in the company’s giant data centers.
Cover Image | Amanz on Unsplash (edited)
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