Apple raises MacBook and iPad prices, blaming AI chip boom

Apple has hiked the prices of MacBooks and iPads, telling customers it can no longer absorb the soaring cost of memory and storage chips being sucked up by AI data center demand. The entry-level Neo laptop jumps from $599 to $699, and the company has hinted iPhone prices could follow. It is the clearest sign yet that the AI infrastructure buildout is starting to squeeze consumer electronics budgets.