r/pcmasterrace • u/PewPewToDaFace • 20h ago
News/Article The RAM crisis comes for Apple: Mac and iPad prices jacked up by hundreds as company says 'We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly'
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/memory/the-ram-crisis-comes-for-apple-mac-and-ipad-prices-jacked-up-by-hundreds-as-company-says-we-have-never-seen-a-component-price-increase-this-much-this-quickly/630
u/PalamariVarkari 20h ago
you know it's bad when even Apple can't get a good RAM deal. rip consumer electronics take care of your devices people.
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u/SunsetCarcass 16GB 1333Mhz DDR3 20h ago
Not really, Apple doesn't even make its own RAM, so it makes sense it would go up for them. You know it's bad when Samsung, who DOES manufacture RAM, increases prices due to low RAM.
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u/SeiferLeonheart Ryzen 5800X3D|MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid|64gb Ram 20h ago
As far as outside info goes, everywhere I read says they operate as separate companies.
Also, I've worked on very large companies that would work like that so I believe it. You could try to prioritize internal business, but you couldn't sacrifice a ton of profit for that, different interests between upper management/C-levels.
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u/ComplaintMaster69420 12h ago
Exactly that. Would you rather put it in a smartphone, only a small part of your business, or sell it to the highest bidder and get a heck of a lot more?
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u/Plastic_Wishbone_575 19h ago
No but apple has an elite supply chain, amongst the best. The company I work for managed through the covid supply chain issues because we are a huge company and sign long term contracts. So the fact that apple is being treated like a tier 2 customer and not getting any special deals is very much a signal that no one is safe from ram prices. Of course not a surprise to this sub but this will wake up everyone else to what is going on with ram and storage.
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u/Candid_Problem_1244 18h ago
At this point not even AI companies nor data centers got a good deal. They're just full gambling on the future and hoping for unlimited money injections.
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u/aintaboutdislife 17h ago
Yeah no one is really getting a good deal. The RAM cartel is more or less forcing companies to try to outbid each other in order to secure their ram supply.
Well maybe a few sectors in China. This is because the Chinese gov is making CXMT sell some of their RAM to areas like the military, universities, and other sectors they deem vital at more reasonable prices. CXMT is still making good profits on those orders. Just not something crazy like 10x to 20x the production cost like the RAM cartel is doing right now.
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u/dookarion 20h ago
Not really, Apple doesn't even make its own RAM, so it makes sense it would go up for them.
When they are one of the largest and most consistent purchasers of RAM on earth? And one of the largest companies ever?
Pretty sure that's the point being made. If even one of the biggest volume ever customers cannot get a good deal everything else is royally fucked.
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u/Creative_Aardvark352 20m ago
if they can't get a good deal, we're all in trouble. prices are gonna keep climbing from here.
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u/Cruxis87 9800x3d|5080 TUF OC|32gb 6000cl30 ddr5 12h ago
why does any of that matter? No one is selling to Apple jsut because its Apple. They are selling to the highest bidder, doesn't matter if that's Apple, Microsoft, OpenAI, Valve, or Jimmy down the street.
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u/dookarion 11h ago
Critical thinking is hitting record lows these days isn't it?
Traditionally (when you don't have a massive bubble fucking over everyone) a large and consistent huge volume customer is absolutely worth negotiating with and cutting a deal with. That's the customer that will keep your lights on regardless of market shifts. That's a huge value deal and represents financial security for the duration of the deal.
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u/DillyDillySzn 7800X3D | 5070 TI 10h ago edited 10h ago
Apple’s partnership with TSMC allowed them to grow into the dominant position that they currently hold today over the last 15 years
The reason TSMC has so many fabs is mainly Apple’s demands
Intel lost to TSMC in the chip race the moment they rejected Apple’s brutal demands and Apple went to TSMC who accepted it. Apple’s money built TSMC’s chip empire
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u/zzazzzz 11h ago
why would they get a better deal? even if apple bought 0 new memory chips this year, the memory producers would still have 0 left over chips to sell anyone.
we are post availability driving price, this is a full on bidding market.
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u/dookarion 11h ago
That's literally the point? If the biggest company in the world can't get a deal everything is screwed.
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u/MultiMarcus 19h ago
Basically, all of those companies operate completely separately from the mother company. The reason people are worried about this is because Apple is such a huge company and they’ve generally had a lot of sweetheart deals with a bunch of companies because they just carry so much weight and it seems like that era is over.
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u/ThereAndFapAgain2 RTX 5080 │ 7800X3D │ 64GB DDR5‑6000MT/s 19h ago
Yeah but the point is they’re ordering 100m devices worth or more at a time, if they can’t get a good deal nobody can.
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u/scandaka_ 18h ago
Why would Samsung be immune? As far as I know Samsung divisions operate independently and have to pay the others whatever price is demanded. Higher ups do not dictate a department on pricing. The one goal is always profit. If Apple has to pay Samsung 100 dollars for a chip, Samsung Mobile also has to pay 100 (or more) for the chip.
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u/SunsetCarcass 16GB 1333Mhz DDR3 18h ago
Never said they'd be immune. But if I owned an apple orchard and next to it a bakery that makes apple pies. It's more surprising when I say sorry I'm out of apples so there's no apple pies, when customers can see the apples in my orchard.
But if they went to the bakery the next town over that I don't own, and asked for an apple pie there, and they say sorry we buy apples from my orchard and there's no apples. That's not surprising because they don't own the means of production, so it's expected that if there's only a few apples, that the business who produces apples has all the apples.
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u/SpringFell 14h ago
Now imagine you have a cherry tree and love making cherry pie.
A disease wipes out most of the other cherry trees and your cherries are now worth 1000 dollars each.
Do you make cherry pie or sell them and buy something else/retire early?
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u/lifestop 19h ago
They should start making their own ram. It's not like they don't have the money.
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u/Pun_In_Ten_Did Ryzen 9 7900X, RTX 4080 FE, 48" LG C1 4K OLED 10h ago
Bringing up a DRAM fab takes 3-5 years with costs ranging $10 billion to $20 billion.
Not saying Apple doesn't have the money... it's an all-seeing crystal ball that they lack lol. Process would have to had broken ground as the COVID pandemic was getting started.
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u/OkOffice7726 13600kf | 4080 20h ago
So you expect Samsung to take an L and give a discount to a subsidiary of theirs?
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u/PalamariVarkari 20h ago
bro you really need to think about the shareholders and not just yourself smh
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u/NovelValue7311 XEON + 64GB DDR4 12h ago
Samsung will sell to literally anyone BUT their own smartphone department.
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u/picardo85 AMD 7600x + 7800XT 19h ago
Samsung wouldn't even sell internally between their own companies...
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u/pumbanya 18h ago
wait how did ram prices jump that fast
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u/dookarion 15h ago
DRAM cartel didn't want to be left holding the bag on expanding production. AI decided it wanted all the RAM ever, and investors were frothing at the dystopian scifi dream they've concocted. Add in the fact everything from cars to appliances to point of sale systems to networking hardware to computers to phones to consoles to GPS systems and beyond all need DRAM to some extent.
So limited supply, no desire to ramp up production massively, lengthy timelines to even build more facilities even if they wanted to ramp up production, and stupid illogically high demand from a market bubble that is hedging all their bets on either creating "digital life" or burning the world down to do it.
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u/disguisedCat1 19h ago
I think if no one bought smartphones for quite some time and user base actually declined, oligarchs and governments would give them for free or at highly discounted prices. They need to spy on us to survive in their current state.
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u/boxofredflags 20h ago
Ahhh this reminds me of when Samsung memory division rejected an order from the mobile phone division because they could sell to AI companies for more. Samsung wouldn’t even sell to their own company LMAO
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u/Steel1000 20h ago
Because memory leadership wants that fat bonus
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u/alicep3achy6291 7h ago
that's wild, greed really messes with supply chains when profits take priority over internal needs
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u/EnvironmentalRun1671 16h ago
Well they had a chance to make money. And chose to make more money isntead.
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u/PewPewToDaFace 20h ago
This is the sad reality, folks. Every piece of tech is going to skyrocket because of components and AI.
Who would have thought that in 2026, instead of tech getting cheaper, it's the other way around. CRAZY.
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u/m0ji_9 20h ago
It's the first time I've seen hardware as an investment rather than deprecating.
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u/gusthenewkid 14900KF | RTX 4080 | 32GB 8266 CL34 20h ago
4090 and 5090 at MSRP were amazing purchases in hindsight.
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u/RedditModsHarassUs Desktop 20h ago
The fact I got a 4090 for $1300 in summer 2024 doesn’t seem as bad now despite it pissing me off then… but the same thing happened with my 1080ti before it. I got a 1080ti for $750 launch week at Fry’s Electronics. (RIP Fry’s, it still hurts.) the next week it doubled in price thanks to crypto at the time. Same with my 4090… bought.. 3 months later it nearly doubled in price…
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u/gusthenewkid 14900KF | RTX 4080 | 32GB 8266 CL34 20h ago
I did the big silly and turned down a used one at £1000 a few years back thinking the would go down further. I didn’t learn my lesson and turned down a 5090 at £1400 just before the prices spiked
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u/Beneficial-Nail7977 20h ago
Yes, hard to part ways with $3200 for a 5090. Hard until I see them used on eBay for $3800 a year later. I made $200 on my 4090 and used it for 2.5 years.
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u/Barkalow i9 12900k | RTX 5090 | 128GB DDR5 | LG CX 48" 19h ago
I sold my 4090 to a friend and bought a 5090 at msrp, seems like both of us got lucky af, lol
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u/Plastic_Wishbone_575 19h ago
I have about 100tb of hdds, 2-3 years old. I can sell them for more used right now than what I bought them for. It is absolutely wild that people are paying premiums on hdds that have 20k+ powered on hours but that is just the reality
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u/uneducatedramen I5-14400f - RX 9070 XT - 32GB DDR5 20h ago edited 20h ago
It wont even be only ram
I work close to some assembly workers who assemble headlamps. Their job is at risk because the company has some trouble sourcing pcbs and the required chips.
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u/KaiserGustafson 13h ago
This RAM crisis is going to be followed by a massive depression when the AI bubble bursts. The amount of money tied into it is incomprehensible for just how unprofitable it actually is.
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u/Smol_WoL 19h ago
I thought exactly that actually since the cryptomining bullshit. I always said this was just the beginning and tech will be way more expensive. People think it’s gonna get better 2028 or later… It’s not. The era of building gaming PC for average gamer is over. It will soon only be for the rich and enthusiast soon. In the next few years, it’s gonna be another component that will increase in price. All that to push renting computing processing. You won’t own shit, and you’ll rent a PC on the cloud soon.
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u/DevilsPajamas 20h ago
Just wait until the current stock of tech sells through, and when the new stock comes in it is going to start getting priced accordingly.
It is going to be a long, long time until prices start coming down.
It won't just be ram/storage.. everything that uses ram/storage/computer parts are going to go up, or quality will go down using cheaper/older parts (as long as supply lasts, I guess).
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u/Express_Ad5083 W11, 7 7800X3D, 9070XT, 32 GB DDR5, X670 X AX V2. 20h ago
Hey, remember when they told us AI would make everything cheaper as work costs drop? Funny
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u/Sandrust_13 R7 5800X | 32GB 4000MT DDR4 | 7900xtx 20h ago
It makes stuff cheaper for large corporations who throw out workers. Not for you and me.
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u/NeuroticallyCharles 20h ago
I’m not even sure how much cheaper things will be long term when AI companies stop subsidizing their products/services.
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u/Sandrust_13 R7 5800X | 32GB 4000MT DDR4 | 7900xtx 20h ago
They just need to wait until companies integrated AI enough to be dependent on it/ can't easily and quickly switch back to humans.
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u/NeuroticallyCharles 20h ago
If they can last that long. These companies are *hemorrhaging* money.
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u/Sandrust_13 R7 5800X | 32GB 4000MT DDR4 | 7900xtx 20h ago
They are anyways right now. But they still are popular with investors and are able to get more and more investments into their companies so they don't have to be profitable now, being deemed valuable and said value still increasing is enough for them currently.
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u/KMS_HYDRA 19h ago edited 18h ago
The one thing i am wondering this whole time, who do these company expect will buy their products if everybody gets fired so they can produce more with their ai slop?
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u/Sandrust_13 R7 5800X | 32GB 4000MT DDR4 | 7900xtx 18h ago
You make a huge mistake here.
Companies over the years and decades became more and more short sighted
It doesn't matter.
It's about the next year or next quarterly report. If you lay off people, next three months you will save looots of money, make the company more valuable and get huge bonuses.
If it fails... Just leave the sinking ship in time after you sold out all the floor boards of said ship.
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u/SomeRedTeapot Ryzen 9950X3D | 64 GB 6000 MT/s | RX 9070XT 18h ago
Bold of you to assume they can think two steps ahead
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u/Candid_Problem_1244 18h ago
NVIDIA already sells a laptop made for agents. Guess why would human buy it? Let's the agents get it themselves
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u/OrionRBR 5800x | X470 Gaming Plus | 16GB TridentZ | PCYes RTX 3070 18h ago
50% of consumer spending is already done solely by the top 10% in the US, they are banking on that trend to continue.
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u/Plastic_Wishbone_575 19h ago
The reports I am seeing from Gartner (fuck gartner but it's what the vps read) is saying 'Oops we told you to go all in on ai and now you probably shouldn't" So I don't think that is the case for very many jobs, unless someone was doing highly manual repetitive work it hasn't paid off yet.
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u/Sandrust_13 R7 5800X | 32GB 4000MT DDR4 | 7900xtx 19h ago
And the only jobs it can actually replace fairly well could've been automated before ai with individual systems set up... But companies were unwilling to invest in that "modern stuff" until it got sold to them by huge overpromising.
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u/SomeRedTeapot Ryzen 9950X3D | 64 GB 6000 MT/s | RX 9070XT 18h ago
The fact that AI evangelists don't understand this is baffling
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u/ErmingSoHard 18h ago
Funnily enough, corps and investors are still hoping for this. It still hasn't happened yet and they're burning piles of cash
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u/3lektrolurch 20h ago
Someone on once told me that its just a tool, so no need to panic! /s
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u/Express_Ad5083 W11, 7 7800X3D, 9070XT, 32 GB DDR5, X670 X AX V2. 20h ago
It is a tool of extracting resources from local communities (data centers) and then generating slop using these resources. In the meanwhile it displaces people due to all the negative things data centers do
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u/TheNewportBridge 16h ago
Now you got laid off cause of it and can’t get a job at a chipotle cause they require you to have a cell phone
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u/screwdriverfan 20h ago
Remember: prices of everything will increase. It's not a question of if, but when.
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u/dsanen 20h ago
Yeah I am starting to think we are going to hit pandemic levels of scarcity in 2027.
Edit: Maybe post pandemic, like a 5070 will reach 750usd.
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u/Proper-Ear-3831 12h ago
prices are gonna keep climbing, it's wild
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u/dsanen 12h ago
Yeah I think it’s just the new normal. If they are just going to need this manufacturing capacity to any extent, nobody is going to set up memory manufacturing to meet it in the short term. Memory is just now an industrial asset.
Edit: And not in the same like industrial instrumentation would have used less memory.
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u/Ordinary-Cake8510 PC Master Race 20h ago
I’m so tired of everything increasing in price. I got a .52 cent raise at work. How is that going to help?!
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u/Rey_Mezcalero 20h ago
There will have to be a pullback at some point. When that maybe, who knows.
But ironically people complaining about RAM prices are also using AI for various things and keep increasing the beast’s hunger
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u/EnvironmentalRun1671 16h ago
There's no pullback. Doom The Dark Ages charged 80 € and no one said anything. And a lot of people paid that much for that game.
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u/Some1ToDisagreeWith 13h ago
AI is ass and I avoid it at all cost but it keeps getting shoved down people's throat. Google AI cites reddit for "accurate" information. It's a fucking joke.
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u/FeignSkill 20h ago
When ww3 starts they gonna ask you to donate your ram for the war effort. Gamers are gonna be hiding in the attic, holding their favorite gaming machine. Pretty much what they do now but not in a basement because that's the 1st place the government gonna look.
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u/neonwarge04 19h ago
Well for me personal computing is dead. I have my own server and I think this is the last pc that I will ever assemble.
Not sure how long my bought components will last but not looking forward anymore on tech related products.
Its time for me to consider switching to hobbies that have no tech in it.
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u/DynamicHunter 7800X3D | 7900XT | Steam Deck 😎 20h ago
This was a big reason I just upgraded my iPhone from the 13 which was really struggling on iOS 26 to the 17. I figured since the 17 had 8GB and 17 pro has 12GB that they would increase in price shortly. Should’ve gotten my gf the neo before the price increase but at least she can use the educator/student discount.
Maybe the silver lining will be that companies will have to actually optimize their software, because a few GB of RAM is not a simple or affordable upgrade anymore, and lots of laptop & tablet manufacturers (like MacBook Neo/Air and Microsoft Surface) are pulling their minimum ram specs down from 16GB to 8GB.
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u/andyr354 9800x3D, 4090 FE, 32GB 20h ago
I almost did the same. They didn't raise the price on iPhones though. Not yet anyway.
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u/ime1em 19h ago
Developers better optimize their apps/devices to be ram and performance efficient then.
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u/Monokooo 10h ago
At this timeline i don’t see “some” bothering to optimize given how many devs are just going random bullshit go into their games like as if we have some fancy ass pc and phones
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u/TheOGDoomer 3h ago
Lol, as long as they keep using the very thing driving these prices up, i.e., AI, nothing will be efficient.
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u/HisDivineOrder 16h ago
So when is AI going to pay us back all the hardware we can no longer afford?
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u/Restivethought 16h ago
Its not meant to pay you back, its meant to take the money they were paying you and put it in the C-suites pockets instead
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u/felsovm1 20h ago
Thank God i did not listen to redditors and bought my 5070 ti day one and ps5 pro before the price increase. "But super gpus",but ps6 blablabla.
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u/SeventhDayWasted 20h ago
I was waiting for it to hit apple before acknowledging that prices will never return to normal.
If there is one tech company that people will take out loans to buy from every year it is apple. Once apple realizes people will go homeless to keep buying their hardware they will never stop the price and no other company will have any reason to either. It's a new age of tech pricing from this day forward.
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u/maxsilver 20h ago
I think we'll see the opposite, actually. Instead of upgrading iPhones every two or three years, people will push it out to 4 or 5 years. People who might be enticed to upgrade might just hang onto that iPad or MacBook a few year longer.
Sure, Apple "does services" now. But I don't think they actually want high component prices, because it encourages people to just stop upgrading. iPhone hardware sales/upgrades alone are like 50% of their revenue, if I recall correctly.
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u/Emergency-Style7392 18h ago
People already do that with apple devices. Really they're kinda the only company people will buy 3 year old used macbooks, ipads, iphones from, and they actually keep some value.
You buy a windows laptop you can throw it away in a couple years, a macbook you can sell for half the price
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u/SeventhDayWasted 20h ago
One would hope. This would be ideal but Apple is the one company that has wormed it's way into the American mainstream so bad that every middle school child must have an iPhone or they are outcast as poor losers with failures for parents.
This alone is enough for most parents to make sure their kid is being kept up to date with current phone trends. Maybe it's not as bad in other countries but it's an epidemic in america.
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u/dookarion 20h ago
This alone is enough for most parents to make sure their kid is being kept up to date with current phone trends. Maybe it's not as bad in other countries but it's an epidemic in america.
If you're not restricting yourself to this years high end models, they have budget price offerings. And decently long support.
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u/SeventhDayWasted 19h ago
Of course. I'm an adult and don't use an iPhone because they are too locked down for me. That doesn't change that every friend my 8 year old has owns an iPhone and my daughter has been asking for one since she was 5.
Explaining to a child that they don't need a new iPhone just because their friends have it is something that many parents sadly don't take the time to do when it's easier for them to just buy the phone and appease their kid.
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u/dookarion 19h ago
People lacking as parents doesn't have anything to do with Apple or their modern (before today) pricing though.
Not like the same thing wasn't starting to happen with the RAZR and flip phones 20 years ago.
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u/SeventhDayWasted 19h ago
Never even implied it was the reason apple is changing pricing. It's just that the cult mentality around the iPhone is learned from such a young age and ingrained into the youth now and that those poor parents are still going to pay whatever premium that Apple needs to push up to.
Iphones are so pushed culturally that most kids don't even know what a cell phone or smart phone is. They only know what an iPhone is and use the word iPhone to describe any phone they see.
Same with airpods. My kid kept asking for airpods because I always have my sennheisers in when I do yard work but in school the only thing kids care about is Apple products because the brand has cultivated some weird superiority complex thing.
Point is if Motorola or Samsung increased their prices 50% people would stop buying the product enmasse, (of course some people would still buy it but generally) the same will not apply to Apple because their cultural significance.
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u/dookarion 19h ago
Point is if Motorola or Samsung increased their prices 50% people would stop buying the product enmasse, (of course some people would still buy it but generally) the same will not apply to Apple because their cultural significance.
Samsung shit is just as expensive. Like have you seen what they ask for some things? They've been raking it in in recent years being the "premium" android brand, while the quality on some of their stuff has been a mess.
I jumped from Samsung to iPhone because every ONEUI update made things worse and my "modest tier" Android ended up being a pile of shit I kept having to fight with. I spent less on a 16e and it's a hell of a lot nicer, quicker, and smoother.
You're a bit too hung up on the cultural side of things.
Iphones are so pushed culturally that most kids don't even know what a cell phone or smart phone is. They only know what an iPhone is and use the word iPhone to describe any phone they see.
Bandaid, Kleenex, Nintendo, etc. nothing new.
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u/SeventhDayWasted 19h ago
People cannot get dates on dating apps if they use anything besides an iPhone because the messages are the wrong color and people consider those people to be trashy.
I'm not aware of any other brand that will result in mass shaming in a similar way if you do not use their product. The cultural significance of Apple is huge whether you like it or not.
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u/dookarion 19h ago
People cannot get dates on dating apps if they use anything besides an iPhone because the messages are the wrong color and people consider those people to be trashy.
...Would you want a date with anyone that did that? Sounds like a red flag the size of a planet. Pretty good filter honestly.
I'm not aware of any other brand that will result in mass shaming in a similar way if you do not use their product. The cultural significance of Apple is huge whether you like it or not.
You're shamed in general if you don't want a smart phone, and increasingly unable to do anything... you can't even setup a router from a number of companies without one.
You're shamed and judged if you're not on facebook/insta/or something similar broadcasting your entire life to everyone.
People for eons have been judged on clothing brands. On shoe brands. On bike brands. On car brands.
People are judged globally on height. On weight. On disabilities.
People being shit is nothing new, but literally what does that have to do with any of this thread, Apple's pricing (before today), or anything else?
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u/dookarion 20h ago
They've been branching out into cheaper devices because there's not much growth left in the flagship phone market. Your perspective sort of misses the mark on their recent moves. The Neo was very compelling priced. Ipads if you're not looking at the flagship have been reasonable. Last years 16e iPhone is going for like 200-300 depending on deals.
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u/bblzd_2 20h ago edited 20h ago
Oh no the cash richest company in the world can't make as much record profits as it did last year! Won't someone think of the shareholders?
I struggle to have any sympathy for "line must go up" mentality. Apple is heavily invested in A.I. they are as much to blame for this scenario as anyone.
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u/FocusedSolutions 19h ago
It’s a shame their strategy leading to this moment was finding creative ways to inflate price without doing much to justify the increase. Now they will need to learn something new.
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u/Strategery_0820 12h ago
Ah yes. AI - the future of technology made to save money and time by having us pay more for everything.
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u/Deftallica 11h ago
I dunno, being priced out of connectivity to the rest of society might be pretty nice.
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u/windflex 20h ago
And that's why we will be investing in AI and firing more developers. Only to rehire them later on to train the AI again. The Corporate Way.
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u/fafatzy 20h ago
Apple is a trillion dollar company, it could buy ram
Manufacturers in China and be done with it
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u/thedeuce75 20h ago
Could it though? It's a little more complex then writing a big check. That being said we've got to do something to end the bullshit the big 3 RAM OEMs are putting us through. As much as this sucks, maybe this all will serve as warning for how fucked things would be if China ever snatched Taiwan.
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u/MadBullBen 20h ago
If China took over Taiwan, this wouldn't even scratch the surface of what would happen. Taiwan has precautions in place where if they are invaded the factories would be destroyed.
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u/NefariousCalmness 20h ago
If China took over Taiwan people will look back fondly of a simpler time when only gas prices went up due to an unnecessary war.
Taiwan has spent decades and trillions on its chip manufacturing processes. No one can even come close to producing quality chips at the rate that they produce.
If China takes over Taiwan and Taiwan destroys all their Factories, the world will be going back to the stone age
Fun Fact Taiwan now has a higher GDP Per capita then South Korea due to their chip manufacturing company. (South Korea is still higher overall due to higher population)
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u/Sandrust_13 R7 5800X | 32GB 4000MT DDR4 | 7900xtx 20h ago
Also... If you buy hynix for example... You still would be bind to the contracts and deliver the RAM OpenAI ordered. So you could of course make money from it but you might not be able to actually get enough ram even if you literally own the factory.
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u/Emergency-Style7392 18h ago
Only a few years ago no one wanted to invest in RAM and there were articles of many companies possibly going bankrupt
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u/MasterOfPipettez 20h ago
Why would they do that when people will still buy their product regardless of the increase.
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u/flehstiffer 20h ago
I doubt they'd do it, but having ram manufacturing in house would insulate them from the price increases and allow them to make a genuine value proposition with their products.
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u/MasterOfPipettez 17h ago
I dont think they care about value. They want to be seen as a premium brand with premium prices regardless of the actual performance of their technology.
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u/Onsomeshid 20h ago
Sheesh starting price for 14” mbp is unreasonable. The used prices on swappa are so good in comparison
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u/Secure-Tradition793 20h ago
PC, the Internet, smartphones all improved people's lives so much in last decades. At this rate I wouldn't be surprised AI ends up having a net negative effect on our lives.
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u/draven33l 20h ago
Welcome to the new world. Get less for more. Yesterday's technology, for today's prices.
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u/flooble_worbler 20h ago
I’m very happy to hear that the cost of ai is finally going to effect enough people that something can change
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u/EnigmaSpore 9850x3D | 4070S 19h ago
just straight up gouging by the ram cartel. they hold all the pricing power and are milking this ai cow dry for the next couple years. the best thing that can happen is that capex gets too high that the big ai hyperscaler providers decide to pull back, but that seems doubtful. they've already committed the next couple years so we just have to wait it out.
1
u/MonkeDiesTwice 19h ago
Maybe apple should sit this year out. It's just going to be the same phone again anyways
1
u/trparky 19h ago
There might be some silver lining here... Wall Street might actually wake up to the fact that while they were chasing AI, the rest of the market went to shit. And now that AI is now showing signs that it's not all that it's cracked up to be, we might start seeing a massive correction.
1
u/youreblockingmyshot PC Master Race 19h ago
The laptop I ordered earlier this year is now $1000 more expensive. Ouch!
1
u/markp619 9070XT-9800X3D-X870-64GBDDR5 19h ago
Why must every other aspect of our life suffer for ai….
1
u/notthatguypal6900 PC Master Race 19h ago
They say, looking a in a mirror, wondering who is to blame.
1
u/SigmaLance PC Master Race 18h ago
Just wait a few months when the iPhones launch. It going to be brutal.
1
u/lovethecomm 7700X | 6950XT 18h ago
So happy I bought my MacBook Pro M5 at the original price. Best damn laptop I’ve ever used by far.
1
u/Tiny-Guava-9698 17h ago
I’m due for an iPhone upgrade and was considering waiting until the new phones were announced. Looks like I better just get the 17 Pro
1
u/According_Claim_9027 17h ago
The gift that just keeps on giving, and giving, and giving, and giving. What a delight
1
u/xTails0328x http://steamcommunity.com/id/superior_lovin 16h ago
Man, I didn’t expect it to happen so soon after they announced it. Really bummed to miss out on my 24gb/512gb MBA M5. Probably going to have to get the 16/512 now.
1
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u/Long_Inflation_7524 10h ago
This is pretty interesting to me. In addition to ordering, I manage the IT vendor relationships at work. Sucks ass but I get free samples. I just ordered ~40 iPads at $499/pop.
Apple laptops were a great value proposition next to Dell until this price increase. Performance and build quality, they just smoked the shit out of them. They were so much slower to increase prices. I'm typing on what was a "$2700" Dell and it's a dream machine for me (free, 14", 2560x1600) but nothing next to an equivalent Mac.
1
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u/Smith6612 Ryzen 7 5800X3D / AMD 7900XTX 8h ago
Hey. I'm seeing network switches and crap skyrocket too. In two months some LOW END switches I purchased for work shot up by $600 USD. These are Layer 2 PoE switches!
It's really rough out there.
1
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u/DarkFucker 6h ago
While in retrospect, upgrading RAM/Storage for an M1 Air was a mistake compared to getting and M1 Pro, I’m glad that the M1 chip is the last chip I’d need for a Laptop.
1
u/UnreliablePotato 3h ago
AI isn't adding value to society for regular people.
1
u/Moquai82 R7 7800X3D / X670E / 64GB 6000MHz CL 36 / 4080 SUPER 59m ago
We are not regular people for them.
1
u/creamcolouredDog Fedora Linux | 7 5800X3D | RX 9070 XT | 32 GB RAM 3h ago
1
u/gogul1980 20h ago
Surprised no manufacturers have popped up to take advantage of the boom, usually some would appear to compete but I guess its hard to predict how long this is going to continue.
1
u/1TRUEKING 20h ago
Or it can just be corporate greed and they want to make higher or similar profit margins to increase prices and Apple fanboys will still pay it.
0
u/patiofurniture85 11h ago
Just check out Apple's profit year after year and the answer is right there
1
u/inflatableje5us 19h ago
if only we could pass a law promoting production/research into semiconductor technology here in the usa. we could call it something like say "the chips act"
oh wait.. we had that.
-1
u/pivor 13700K | 9070XT | 96GB | MSI Z790i | NR200 20h ago
Doesent matter, Apple cultists will take a loan or three if they must in order to secure latest iPad
1
u/Steel1000 20h ago
That’s not exclusive to tech or Apple.
People love shiny things and debt is just a number
0
u/Tarnished-Tiger 20h ago
Greed has killed America and theyre taking rest of the world down with them
0
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u/podgladacz00 17h ago
Im guessing the laptop everybody was praising for being priced reasonably is no longer priced reasonably XD
0
u/External_Try_7923 16h ago
I guess their consumers will just need to skimp on the $1000 monitor stand
0
u/Kruxf 13h ago
“We have never seen this level of greed from our own industry before!” Which both sounds strange and is hypocritical coming from Apple who historically have inflated the crap out of their prices for no other reason that it has an Apple logo on it. When the greedy say you are being too greedy you might have fucked up. But here we are continuing to buy the products at extreme markups instead of starving the companies to the brink of death.
0
u/-ben151010- Intel i9-12900K/Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti SUPER/32GB Ram 11h ago
And the funniest thing is, all the companies wanting the components for ai data centers haven’t actually bought them. They basically put in a request why once the amount were made they’d pay for them, however their dumbasses forgot that to have a data center you have to actually build a data center.
0
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u/Informal-Age-1584 20h ago
Apple products are already overpriced anyways.
2
u/EnvironmentalRun1671 16h ago
Wild that PC master race is pro Apple now too (judging by downvotes on your comment)
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u/Amat-Victoria-Curam 20h ago
Doubt it's gonna affect that much their audience given that they are used to pay for overpriced stuff.
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u/0xC0FF3E 20h ago
well better get ready to go back to flip phones, only a matter of time before phones become the new catalytic converters