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‘RAMageddon’: tech crunch hikes the price of your next iPhone by £100

The Guardian — Tech · · International · AI Governance

A global shortage of memory chips, driven by AI datacenter demand, has pushed Apple to raise iPhone prices by £100 across its lineup. The supply crunch, dubbed 'RAMageddon,' has reversed a long-running trend of consumer electronics becoming more affordable over time.

Why this matters: The AI infrastructure buildout has a price, and ordinary consumers are starting to pay it. Every memory chip going into a giant datacenter is a chip not going into a phone or laptop. That tightens supply and lifts prices for everyone. This is not an Apple story. It is a story about who benefits from the AI boom and who absorbs the cost. Right now, the people buying phones are quietly subsidizing the compute appetite of the world's largest tech companies.

Who should care: General readers · AI governance · Policy

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