RAMMageddon is just real

In terms of pricing, Apple is kind of the canary back in the coal mine.

It’s his very interesting with a large volume of purchases, it can handle price fluctuations in a way that no other consumer technology company can. So when Apple raises prices on almost all of its products, you know the downside is well and truly real.

Here’s what happened earlier today: Apple raised prices across Macs, iPads, HomePods, and Vision Pro. Prices went up hundreds of dollars in many cases. The flagship MacBook Neo — originally priced at $599 — is now $699. The iPhone looks safe for now, but I’d be surprised if we don’t see the initial pricing for the iPhone 18 series when it launches in a few months.

It’s all a bit scary because Apple doesn’t usually compromise prices on its current models. It does not participate in anything known as a to sell. When you walk into an Apple store to buy a new MacBook, you can count on the same price regardless of the day or week or month. Of course, you’ll get discounts from other retailers on certain products, or a gift card with your purchase if Apple is feeling generous. Otherwise, the iPad usually costs the same price, throughout the year, until the day the new model is introduced. If the price goes up, it will go up on the new model; the current one is permanent.

But even for a company like Apple, the memory problem is rewriting the rules of consumer pricing. First came the console game: a PlayStation, Xboxes, Changesand Steam Decks. Both have received price increases, due to reduced memory. They came to laptops. Phones have suffered, too. Pixel 10A it’s the 9A unheated model, and its best feature is that it didn’t cost more than last year’s model. Samsung S26 phones they were victimswith less storage and higher prices than previous models. Every corner of the industry has been affected by this crisis, and Apple’s price hike today shows that it has been a very difficult year for consumer technology.

Interestingly, several technology companies have chosen this year to launch unique, high-end devices. It’s a sad reality of all the years of R&D. Apple is about to launch its most expensive iPhone ever A rumored foldable iPhone. Valve released its own The most anticipated Steam Machine twice the price of PS5. Samsung released the Galaxy Z Trifold on limited resources. Is it an ambitious game from a company that has a good track record of updating its existing hardware? This may just end the storm. But a big, expensive phone with a questionable value proposition? Well, we already know how it went.

If nothing else, RAMageddon will quickly sort out the winners and losers. And if there was any doubt, we know now that every consumer technology company is forced to think about memory loss – even Apple. The company may have stumbled to the other side of the its AI evolution and until a crisis of another kind.