Apple's Mac business is booming, but the memory market has other plans

If you are buying a new Mac, expect higher prices and potential availability issues in the near future.

Apple has reported record Mac sales for fiscal year 2026, with revenue reaching $10.8 billion in the September quarter, a 24% year-on-year increase. CEO John Ternus noted that this marks the best fiscal year for Mac sales in the company's history. However, the company faces significant challenges from escalating memory prices, which are impacting supply chains and profit margins. Ternus described the current memory pricing as "unprecedented" and anticipates higher costs extending beyond the December quarter. COO Sabih Khan confirmed that memory constraints are a primary driver for expected Mac and iPad supply limitations in the December quarter, as demand has outpaced projections. Apple has increased its manufacturing purchase obligations by $33 billion to secure supplies, and CFO Kevan Parekh stated that memory costs alone caused a roughly one percentage point drop in gross margin between the June and September quarters. The company projects its gross margin to fall further to 45-46% in the December quarter, partly due to these memory costs and AI rollout expenses.

The escalating cost of memory components is forcing Apple to implement price hikes across its hardware and absorb margin reductions. This situation highlights the critical vulnerability of even dominant tech companies to specific supply chain bottlenecks. Apple's aggressive increase in manufacturing purchase obligations indicates a significant strategic effort to lock in future supply, suggesting a prolonged period of tight memory availability impacting the entire industry.

This memory crunch not only affects Apple's bottom line and product availability but also signals a broader trend for the personal computing market. As demand for AI-capable devices grows, the need for high-density, high-speed memory intensifies, potentially exacerbating shortages and price volatility for all manufacturers. Consumers and businesses alike may face increased costs and longer lead times for new devices as component suppliers struggle to scale production to meet this surging demand.