On this week's episode of
The MacRumors Show, we talk through how the global memory shortage is forcing Apple's hand across multiple key products, killing configurations, delaying launches, and prompting spec decisions that would have seemed unlikely a year ago.
The pressure originates outside Apple's control. JPMorgan analysis cited by the
Financial Times found that memory could account for as much as
45% of an iPhone's component costs by 2027, up from around 10% today. Companies like Nvidia are reportedly outbidding consumer electronics makers for limited DRAM supply from Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, while cloud firms are locking in capacity with multi-billion-dollar upfront commitments. Apple, which buys memory for roughly 250 million iPhones per year, has shifted from a position where it could dictate terms to one where it must compete for supply, and component prices are being driven up as a result.
The consequences are already visible in the Mac lineup. Apple last week
removed the Mac mini's 256GB storage option, pushing its starting price from $599 to $799. Days later, it eliminated
Mac mini models
with 32GB and 64GB of RAM and stripped the M3 Ultra
Mac Studio to a single 96GB configuration, with delivery estimates for remaining Studio models at 9 to 10 weeks. The Mac Studio had
already lost its 512GB memory option in March, and multiple configurations became
entirely unavailable in April. On Apple's
April 30 earnings call, CEO
Tim Cook acknowledged that both machines would be "hard to get for months to come" and said Apple expects "significantly higher memory costs" in the current quarter.
The
MacBook Neo was
sold out through April and Cook described demand on the earnings call as "
off the charts." The MacBook Neo uses binned A18 Pro chips, adopting manufacturing rejects from the
iPhone 16 lineup with one GPU core disabled, repurposed rather than discarded to keep costs low enough to hit the $599 price point.
Apple's initial production target is believed to be about
five to six million units, but demand has since pushed the company to instruct suppliers to prepare for at least 10 million. TSMC's N3E production lines, where the A18 Pro was made, are now running at maximum capacity, with AI-related orders consuming much of the available output. A fresh manufacturing run for the A18 Pro would yield fully functional chips rather than defective ones, raising the per-unit cost before any expedited manufacturing premium is applied.
Apple is now said to be weighing up its options for the MacBook Neo. The company is purportedly
considering cutting the 256GB entry-level model, which would push the effective starting price up by $100 without changing any existing configuration's price, the same mechanism used with the Mac mini. Separately, Apple may be
considering new color options to soften any price increase.
Upcoming products are apparently being reshaped too. Weibo leaker "Fixed Focus Digital" has
claimed in a series of posts that the standard
iPhone 18 is being downgraded as a cost-cutting measure, with both display and chip specifications affected.
Most recently, the leaker said certain parts are interchangeable between the iPhone 18 and the lower-cost iPhone 18e. For context,
iPhone 17 and
iPhone 17e differ meaningfully: the standard model has a larger ProMotion display,
Dynamic Island, Ultra Wide camera, five-core GPU, and significantly better battery life, but it looks like there could be fewer differences with the next generation.
A
follow-up post framed the new split launch strategy, under which the iPhone 18 ships in spring 2027 rather than alongside the Pro models in the fall, as a deliberate commercial mechanism to smooth out demand. By extending the iPhone 17's flagship run, Apple is also said to be creating conditions under which a lower-specced successor will be more palatable. The split launch itself has been widely reported since last year, with
Ming-Chi Kuo and
Nikkei among those to have corroborated it.
The launch of the rumored all-new high-end
MacBook Pro or "MacBook Ultra" with an OLED display and touchscreen has
also apparently slipped.
Bloomberg's
Mark Gurman has said early 2027 is now looking more likely than late 2026 due to Apple's constrained memory supply.
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The MacRumors Show: Is Apple Downgrading iPhone 18 Due to Memory Shortage?" first appeared on
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