Just hours after Apple announced price hikes for MacBooks and iPads, Microsoft said Xbox gamers should also brace for higher prices as rising component costs continue to squeeze the technology industry.
Microsoft revealed on Thursday that, effective August 1, the 512GB Xbox Series S will cost about $500, representing a $100 increase. The 1TB version will rise by $150, while the entry-level Xbox Series X will now start at approximately $750.
“Last October, we increased XBOX console price by $20-$70 in the U.S.,” the company said in a blog post. “We hoped another price increase would not be necessary, and we have spent the last several months working with suppliers on options.”
Microsoft attributed the price increases to a sharp surge in memory and storage costs, stating that “console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5 times, and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027.”
The company noted that major memory suppliers, including Micron Technology and SK Hynix, are operating under constrained production capacity and are increasingly directing resources toward high-bandwidth memory used in artificial intelligence systems.
Demand for such chips has soared due to their critical role in powering AI infrastructure, particularly graphics processors produced by Nvidia.
The supply squeeze is increasingly being felt by consumers, as higher memory and storage costs push up the prices of products ranging from smartphones and tablets to personal computers.
Apple’s decision to raise prices on several MacBook and iPad models underscores the growing pressure on hardware manufacturers.
The move came after Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that price increases had become unavoidable amid escalating component costs and persistent supply constraints across the memory chip market.
“The entire consumer electronics industry is struggling with the current components crisis, but the effects are particularly hard on consoles,” Xbox said in the post. “Unlike phones, computers, speakers, and other consumer devices, consoles are typically not sold at a profit, but instead for less than they cost to make.”
