Apple said on Nov. 2 that memory costs will keep rising beyond the December quarter, and that it had already raised prices: Apple said on the call it raised Mac and iPad prices in June and iPhone prices in September, with no models or amounts given. Apple CEO John Ternus called current memory pricing "unprecedented." Apple did not say it will raise prices again, and no new price change was announced on the call.

What that means for you: if you are planning to buy a Mac, iPad or iPhone, nothing on the call sets a date or a number for a future price change. What it does show is that Apple sees its own costs going up.

What changed

The remarks came during the question-and-answer part of Apple's fiscal fourth-quarter call, as transcribed by Six Colors. Answering a question about gross margin, Ternus said: "What we're seeing with memory pricing right now is unprecedented." He added: "And looking beyond the December quarter, we see the pricing for memory purchases continuing to increase."

He said memory costs were higher in the September quarter and are expected to rise further in the December quarter. The earlier price changes on Mac and iPad (June) and iPhone (September) offset part of that increase, he said, and the benefit Apple gets from inventory it carried in will diminish over time. In answer to another analyst, he said "these memory prices are unprecedented, and so that has put pressure on our prices."

Apple's gross margin guidance for the December quarter is 45% to 46%, which the company tied "primarily" to "the impact of higher memory costs, as well as some costs related to the ramp of Siri AI." The quarter's results are in Apple's results release, and in our Apple earnings story, which carries the same margin guidance from the call.

The pricing question

Analyst Wamsi Mohan of Bank of America asked: "And if it continues to be a headwind, is pricing also going to remain dynamic potentially move higher?"

CFO Kevan Parekh answered in the same exchange. "We did reluctantly make the decision to change pricing on a number of our products," he said, and added, "I believe we're balancing this well." He said Apple is pursuing lower costs on components other than memory, using inventory it already holds, and weighing each product's revenue and margin when it sets prices, with both short-term and long-term effects in mind.

COO Sabih Khan's answer was about suppliers and supply. "We know our products would simply not be possible without them, and we look forward to continuing our work together," he said. He said Apple is still working to improve supply, and that its manufacturing purchase obligations rose $33 billion from June to September.

Neither executive said whether Apple will raise prices on any product.

Who is affected

Anyone planning to buy a Mac, iPad or iPhone in the coming months, and anyone watching Apple's margins. Ternus named those three product lines and the months of Apple's earlier price changes, though not which models or by how much, so they are the ones the company itself connected to memory costs.

Supply is part of the picture too. Khan said Apple is still working to improve supply. The iPhone Duo shows a Jan. 22 ship date on its U.S. store page, so prices and availability could both matter for a holiday purchase.

What this means for you

Here is what we know. Apple says memory costs are rising and will keep rising past December. Apple says it has already changed pricing on a number of products, "reluctantly." Apple's own words show cost pressure, not a price plan.

Here is what we do not know. Apple has not said it will raise any price, which products could be affected, or when. It has not said prices will stay where they are, either. We cannot tell you which way a particular price will go.

If you need a device now, the call gives no reason to expect a price drop, and it gives no firm reason to expect a rise by a certain date either. Price what you are about to buy on Apple's store page and at the retailers you already use, and buy at the lowest price you find that fits your budget. If your purchase can wait, you are taking on the chance that a price moves either way, or stays put, or that stock gets tighter. If you are buying a Duo or another constrained product, check ship dates as well as prices.

None of this is a prediction. Buy when the device fits your need and your budget, and check the final price at checkout.

What we checked

We read the Q&A portion of the Nov. 2, 2026 earnings call transcript and Apple's fourth-quarter results release, on the evening of Nov. 2. We did not check Apple's store prices against earlier dates, so we cannot say what changed or by how much. The Khan, Parekh and Ternus quotes come from the transcript and have not been confirmed with Apple.

Related: Apple's September-quarter results.