Apple announced this week that prices are going up — though Tim Cook, the company’s outgoing boss, declined to specify which products or when the increases would hit. A generous interpretation: he is being coy. A realistic one: Apple has not decided yet, but needs you to start psychologically preparing for the sticker shock.
The reason, naturally, is artificial intelligence. Chip costs are rising because everyone now needs AI inside their devices, whether they asked for it or not. Apple, which has spent the last six months insisting that its upcoming AI features will revolutionize your life, apparently did not budget for the actual cost of computing them. So the solution is to pass that cost to you — the person who just bought an iPhone 15 and is still making payments.
What is darkly funny is the implication baked into this announcement: Apple’s innovation now comes with an existential tax. You are not just paying for faster silicon anymore. You are paying for the privilege of worrying about whether a neural network trained on the internet is reading your email. That anxiety? Apparently, it costs extra.
The satire writes itself. A company built on the premise that premium pricing reflects premium thinking is now charging you more for the same reason everyone else is raising prices — because the market allows it and because they can. The AI boom did not create a cost crisis. It created an excuse.
So when your next Apple device costs another $200, remember: you are not buying innovation. You are buying the right to feel sophisticated about your anxiety.