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- Thursday December 04
- 12:15 pmRAM prices are out of control. What does that mean for Apple devices?
Macworld You have undoubtedly heard about the recent massive spike in RAM prices. RAM for consumer devices like desktops, laptops, graphics cards, and smartphones (DDR, GDDR, and LPDDR memory) has skyrocketed in recent weeks. Prices are 50-100 percent higher than they were back in the summer, with some premium 32GB DDR5 kits going for as much as $400 at Amazon! The problem, as it so often is, traces back to AI. The massive rush to build more AI datacenters at all costs has already increased demand for water and electricity, and previously sucked up much of the supply chain for the chips we use in consumer devices. RAM appears to be the latest culprit—AI data centers are using up a lot of the supply of DDR memory, but the GPUs they use often use a different kind of RAM called HBM—high bandwidth memory. Manufacturers have begun shifting some production to keep up with demand, making the DDR memory used in consumer devices even more scarce. It has gotten so bad that Samsung reportedly can’t even sell RAM to Samsung. The situation has caused prices to rise for PC desktops and laptops, graphics cards, and plenty of other consumer devices. But Apple products haven’t been affected—at least not yet. But will the surge in RAM pricing eventually make our iPhones and Macs more expensive? The situation is complicated. Apple’s supply contracts If nothing else, Apple is a big and popular monolithic producer of consumer goods with a locked-in supply chain. Apple doesn’t buy RAM month-to-month; it negotiates big, long-term contracts for parts in extremely high volumes. So for Apple, RAM likely hasn’t gotten more expensive yet, because they locked in prices months or even years ago for a huge long-term supply. What we don’t know is when Apple negotiates its supply contracts and how long this surge in RAM pricing will last. A Citi report published on X last year revealed that Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron supplied DRAM for iPhone 17, but it’s unclear whether Apple negotiates contracts before each phone release or whether they are the same for Mac chips. Because the unified memory chips in Apple’s processors are soldered to the chip, there aren’t teardowns to reveal the make or model of the RAM. The M5 chip starts at 12GB of RAM in the iPad Pro and maxes out at 32GB of RAM in the MacBook Pro, but Apple hasn’t had to raise prices over the previous generationsApple There’s also the possibility that Apple’s prices go up to cover the threat of additional costs. When airlines raise ticket prices due to a surge in the price of oil, that’s usually an artificial increase. Major airlines buy fuel on long-term contracts and hedge prices by locking in rates well in advance of a price spike. Airlines are raising prices because they can, and we have seen many other industries use inflation and tariffs as cover to raise prices by a much larger amount than the increase in their actual costs. Also, prices rarely go down once costs stabilize, but that’s another issue. In other words, even if Apple isn’t paying more for RAM right now, it might have to in the near future, and it might raise prices regardless. There’s just no way to know. Apple’s big margins Historically, increases in RAM prices affect products in which RAM is a huge part of the total cost. On an inexpensive smartphone, where RAM might be 10 or 15 percent of the total bill of materials (BOM), a doubling of RAM costs can completely destroy the slim margins it sells at. Apple’s typical RAM cost is estimated to be more like 4 percent of the BOM cost, and Apple’s margins are high—in the 20-30 percent range for most products, and higher on high-end Macs. Apple also charges a lot for additional RAM in Macs—you’ll pay $200 more for 8GB, essentially $20 worth of RAM. Even if Apple’s cost for RAM doubles, it still has margin to spare. Granted, Apple is very protective of its margins and doesn’t ever want to make less profit on each sale. But it certainly has the ability to withstand a few months or even a year of a big DRAM price surge without losing money, even at current prices. The M5 iPad Pro starts with 12GB of RAM—but also has a four-figure price tag.Britta O’Boyle Apple’s steady pricing The full retail price of an Apple product rarely changes. It has been known to happen, especially in specific regions where a big swing in the exchange rate and/or taxes that must be included in the price necessitate a shift. In general, though, Apple’s pricing is incredibly steady. When the company raises prices, it does so with the introduction of a new product. For example, Apple likely wouldn’t raise the price of the iPhone 17 due cover rising component costs, but would rather just raise the iPhone 18’s price when it is introduced. One notable exception, however, was in March 2002, when it hiked the price of its new G4 iMac jus two months after its launch due to “significant increases in component costs for memory and LCD flat-panel displays.” Of course, Apple was a much different company back then. Apple just released a number of its higher-priced products: the iPhone 17 line (including an overpriced iPhone Air), M5 MacBook Pro, and M5 iPad Pro. Its next big product lineup will be higher-priced M5 MacBook Pros (which have margin to spare), M5 MacBook Air, and perhaps some real budget value products like a low-cost MacBook and iPhone 17e. The iPhone 17e is one place where Apple could recoup rising memory costs.Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd In other words, Apple’s next products are a mix of some high-end, high-margin Macs and value products that by definition have to come in well under the rest of the product line. It would surprise me if we saw higher starting prices for those products due to the current RAM situation. Nobody really knows what Apple will do with pricing, and anyone who claims differently is as trustworthy as a magic 8-ball. But our educated guess is that Apple won’t adjust its prices due to the RAM shortage in the short term. If this supply crunch lasts through the year to the fall 2026 product cycle, there’s a very good chance we’ll see some higher prices on specific SKUs to offset Apple’s increased costs and preserve its overall margins.12:02 pmDye's departure doesn't mean Liquid Glass is going anywhere
Apple's VP of Human Interface Design is leaving Apple for Meta, but Liquid Glass is here to stay. Expect Stephen Lemay could perfect the controversial design choice.Liquid Glass is Apple's future, like it or notAlan Dye was a controversial choice as VP of Human Interface Design when he was placed in that slot by Jony Ive. His background in fashion made everyone in the Apple space cringe with worry, and the time since 2015 has shown they had only a little to worry about.Apple's design didn't stray far from the iOS 7 foundation that introduced flat minimalism all the way until Liquid Glass was introduced with iOS 26. That change was presented as the way forward for Apple's operating systems, and isn't something the company will easily back off from, regardless of who leaves. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums11:30 ammacOS Tahoe was a nightmare of freezes on my MacBook. Here’s how I finally fixed it
Macworld Back in September, when macOS 26 Tahoe arrived for download on my MacBook, I installed it along with millions of other people. I didn’t give it a second thought—I have an M3 Max MacBook Pro with 36GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Running Tahoe shouldn’t be an issue. But it was. Almost immediately from the first day I installed it, I experienced intermittent freezes lasting a second or two that would interrupt whatever I was doing. I couldn’t tie it down to a single app, and it was difficult to predict. Some days it would happen numerous times each hour, but other days it wouldn’t happen much at all. I tried all the usual tricks—closing apps, restarting, shutting down—and of course I immediately updated to macOS 26.0.1, all to no avail. Since I don’t run betas on my main machine, I chalked it up to an initial release bug that would be smoothed out in 26.1. Alas, when I installed that update as soon as it arrived, the problem persisted. Back when I had an M1 MacBook Pro, I had issues with memory slowing down my machine, so I checked Activity Monitor throughout the day. Memory pressure was consistently in the green safe zone. There was one instance where my computer completely seized up due to an application memory allotment issue, but again, I couldn’t find a specific cause. I have plenty of storage, plenty of RAM, and haven’t had any issues with a specific app. Yet my machine continued to freeze randomly, some days dozens of times an hour. Shining a Spotlight on the problem So after macOS 26.1 didn’t clear up the issue, I decided to investigate further. Everything seemed okay in Activity Monitor, but I noticed an abnormality in the CPU tab. While the CPU LOAD chart didn’t appear to show any persistent issues, two processes—corespotlightd and kernel_task–were regularly using over 100 percent of the CPU. The corespotlightd process was using a ton of my available CPU percentage.Foundry I learned that each core counts as 100 percent, so technically, my MacBook could use 1,400 percent of the CPU. Still, it seemed high for a background task, so I kept an eye on it. Sure enough, corespotlightd was consistently using well over 100% of the CPU load and sometimes reaching near 200 percent. I assumed that was bad, so I went over to System Settings to check out the Spotlight tab. I don’t use Spotlight all that often, but when I did, it loaded quickly and didn’t show any obvious signs of slowing my system down. But this particular task’s name was obviously related to Spotlight, so I headed over to the Spotlight tab in the Settings app. Inside, there are a series of toggles for each of Apple’s apps, system content, and the Clipboard. But what stood out to me was the two at the top: “Show Related Content” and “Help Apple Improve Search.” In particular, the second one, which allows Apple to “store your Safari, Siri, Spotlight, Lookup, and #images search queries.” So I turned them off. And almost instantly, my CPU load dropped. I watched the corespotlightd process drop off my list of CPU percentage drainers, and the intermittent pauses stopped. I waited an hour or so, and it didn’t return, so I turned both toggles back on out of curiosity. It’s been about a week, and the issue hasn’t returned. I’m not sure if my issue was personal to my machine, but If it’s something you’re experiencing, try flipping those two toggles in the Spotlight settings. It might just return your MacBook to normal.10:15 amApple distributes macOS Tahoe 26.2 Release Candidate build to public beta and developer communities | PowerPageApple distributes macOS Tahoe 26.2 Release Candidate build to public beta and developer communities
Amidst its bevy of Release Candidate announcements, Apple on Wednesday published the Release Candidate beta of its macOS Tahoe 26.2 operating system to both developers and public beta testers alike. The RC represents the final version of macOS Tahoe 26.2 that will be provided to the public as long as no bugs are found in […] Source10:00 amApple distributes iOS 26.2 Release Candidate build as both a public beta and a developer beta | PowerPageApple distributes iOS 26.2 Release Candidate build as both a public beta and a developer beta
Just a day after the public release of its iOS 26.1 update, Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta. Now in the Release Candidate stage, and thought to be released on December 8 or 9, the update is expected to feature the following according to Macworld’s Jason Cross: AirDrop code: A new section in the […] Source08:35 amMacworld Podcast: The folding iPhone and what we know so far
Macworld We’re starting to hear more reports about Apple’s upcoming folding iPhone. We talk about the latest in this episode of the Macworld Podcast. This is episode 961 with Michael Simon, Jason Cross, and Roman Loyola. Watch episode 961 on YouTube Listen to episode 961 on Apple Podcasts08:00 amThis $29.97 Mac upgrade lets you talk instead of typing
Macworld TL;DR: If you need a break from typing, start talking to your Mac with VoiceType AI, a voice-to-text tool with lifetime access on sale for $29.97 during Cyber Week (MSRP $154). If you’ve ever wished macOS dictation were faster and a whole lot more accurate, this Cyber Week deal might be your new favorite productivity hack. VoiceType AI, a wildly popular voice-to-text app used by more than 650,000 people, is offering a lifetime subscription for $29.97, its lowest price of the year, through December 7 (MSRP $154). VoiceType turns your Mac into a precision typing machine, transcribing your speech at 360 words per minute with a 99.7% accuracy score. That’s roughly 9x faster than average typing speed, and the app layers in smart perks like automatic punctuation, grammar cleanup, and tone matching depending on the app you’re using. It even handles names, jargon, and soft-spoken “whisper mode” dictation without tripping over itself. What makes this especially compelling for Apple users is that it works everywhere you type: Apple Notes, iMessage, Safari, Mail, Notion, Linear, VS Code, Slack, Gmail, GitHub, Google Docs, Figma, and dozens more apps. Whether you’re sending emails, journaling, taking meeting notes, mapping requirements, or knocking out documentation, VoiceType keeps up. Get your VoiceType AI lifetime subscription on sale during Cyber Week for $29.97 (MSRP $154). Deal ends December 7 at 11:59 p.m. PT, and no coupon is needed. VoiceType AI Voice-to-Text: Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.05:01 amMeet Apple’s new UI chief, the man Steve Jobs called “Margaret”
Meet Steve Lemay, the new head of User Interface design at Apple — the highest-profile software design job at the giant company, and possibly the world. Unfortunately for Lemay, who has worked at Apple since 1999, he shares the same first name as the late Steve Jobs, who nicknamed him “Margaret” — a name that […] (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)03:16 amBad Dye Job
It might have made some sense to bring someone from the fashion/brand world to lead software design for Apple Watch, but it sure didn’t seem to make sense for the rest of Apple’s platforms. And the decade of Dye’s HI leadership has proven it.01:34 amCalifornia Governor sees Apple CEO's dealings with Trump as part of his job
Gavin Newsom says Apple's dealings with President Trump are crony capitalism that results from what the administration requires of companies, and he doesn't begrudge Cook's position.California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks on big tech's involvement with Trump administrationThose watching Apple's dealings with the United States government under Trump have had a sour taste in their mouths. Many wish Apple would push back against the administration, if not outright fight them, but Apple CEO Tim Cook has been working a different angle.In an interview with The New York Times, California Governor Gavin Newsom discussed how he feels about how Silicon Valley, and specifically Apple, have dealt with President Trump and his expectations. Primarily, he says it "breaks my heart" knowing that small businesses and farmers don't have the same opportunity to make a phone call to get a tariff exemption. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our ForumsWednesday December 0311:33 pmVideo: Gavin Newsom says Tim Cook’s dealings with Trump ‘break his heart a little bit’
At The New York Times’ DealBook Summit today, California Governor Gavin Newsom addressed the tech sector’s deference to the Trump administration, and discussed Tim Cook’s overtures to the president. Here’s what he said. more…10:16 pmThis hidden Vehicle Motion Cues adjustment in iOS 26 solved my motion sickness issues
When Apple rolled out Vehicle Motion Cues, it made my kinetosis much more manageable, but didn’t fully fix it. With iOS 26, a new adjustment finally did the trick. more…10:02 pmiOS 26.2 release date: Here’s when new iPhone features are coming
Apple has a lot of new iPhone features coming soon in iOS 26.2, the next major software update that’s right around the corner. Here’s the expected release date for iOS 26.2. more…09:55 pmMeta poaches Apple’s user interface design head Alan Dye
Meta has landed a major talent coup by hiring away Apple Inc.’s top design executive, Alan Dye, in a move that highlights the social media… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.09:46 pmiPhone 17 makes standard screen protectors not so useful
The iPhone 17 lineup includes a new Ceramic Shield 2 with anti-reflective technology, but it turns out standard screen protectors aren’t the best match for the new displays. more…09:46 pmiPhone 17 makes standard screen protectors not so useful
The iPhone 17 lineup includes a new Ceramic Shield 2 with anti-reflective technology, but it turns out standard screen protectors aren’t the best match for the new displays. more…09:46 pmiPhone 17 makes standard screen protectors not so useful
The iPhone 17 lineup includes a new Ceramic Shield 2 with anti-reflective technology, but it turns out standard screen protectors aren’t the best match for the new displays. more…09:15 pmApple design chief quits for Meta. Some say good riddance!
Social media users responded to big news that Alan Dye will join Meta with Liquid-Glass-focused sarcasm. Is it really such a big loss? (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)09:04 pmExpressVPN now has a native Mac app
Alongside a new Mac version, the latest ExpressVPN update also features a welcome connectivity option on iOS. Here are the details. more…08:45 pmUI design chief exits Apple to head up Meta’s new design studio
Macworld Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that a key Apple executive is leaving the company (no, it’s not Tim Cook). Alan Dye, who leads Apple’s user interface design team, is leaving Apple Park in Cupertino for the Ravenswood Slough in Menlo Park and the headquarters of Meta, where he will lead “a new design studio,” said Gurman, and will be “in charge of design for hardware, software and AI integration for its interfaces.” Dye has led Apple’s user interface design team since 2015. He will be replaced by Steve Lemay, who “has played a key role in the design of every major Apple interface since 1999,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement to Bloomberg. “He has always set an extraordinarily high bar for excellence and embodies Apple’s culture of collaboration and creativity.” Dye played a key role in several recent product rollouts for Apple. He led the efforts for the UI redesign in the version 26 operating systems, as well as with the Apple Vision Pro, Apple Watch, and iPhone X. He was one of Jony Ive’s proteges and one of the few designers remaining from that era. This news follows several reports throughout this year of Meta poaching Apple employees. Several of Apple’s AI development team have left for Meta, including Ruoming Pang, who led Apple’s AI model development. Bloomberg reported that Pang was offered a $200 million compensation package, most of which is stock options. Earlier this week, Apple announced that AI chief John Giannandrea was “retiring” and renowned AI researcher Amar Subramanya would be taking his place.