TSMC raises chip prices: Apple could become more expensive

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Apple's main chip manufacturer, TSMC, plans to raise prices by up to ten percent starting in 2027. For Apple, its largest customer, this means rising costs – just after the latest price increase and in the year of the iPhone's anniversary.

Just in June, Apple significantly raised prices for numerous products, citing increased costs for memory chips. Now, a second cost increase is looming, this time at a different point in the supply chain: According to a report by Nikkei Asia, TSMC plans to noticeably raise its chip manufacturing prices starting in 2027. Since virtually every Apple processor is manufactured by TSMC, this will directly impact the company – and could ultimately drive up device prices, which are already rising.

What TSMC is planning from 2027 onwards

According to Nikkei Asia, TSMC has already concluded negotiations with its customers. Base prices are expected to increase by five to ten percent, both for older manufacturing processes and for the modern processes at seven nanometers and below, on which Apple's A and M chips are based. The new prices will take effect at the beginning of 2027; the negotiations took place from June until this month.

Customers ordering more than originally planned will be charged an additional surcharge of 10 to 15 percent. For individual high-performance orders, the total additional costs could thus exceed 10 percent. TSMC cites rising expenses for materials, manufacturing equipment, and the construction of new plants abroad as the reasons. The company described its approach as strategic and not a short-term exploitation of the situation; TSMC declined to comment on specific prices.

Why the increase specifically affects Apple

Apple is by far TSMC's largest customer and has virtually no alternative: There is currently no other manufacturer with comparable technology for its most powerful chips. Therefore, rising foundry prices are difficult to avoid.

Then there's the timing. The higher costs will take effect in 2027 – the year in which Apple is expected to launch not only additional iPhone 18 models but also the 20th anniversary iPhone. A complex special edition with a new design is likely to be expensive to manufacture anyway; more expensive chips will only exacerbate this pressure.

What this means for prices in Germany

For customers in Germany, this news is sensitive because the last round of price increases is still fresh. In June, prices for Macs, iPads, and the Vision Pro rose sharply in some cases, with some storage options becoming drastically more expensive. Apple itself has already hinted at further increases, and higher prices are predicted for the iPhone models expected in September.

Whether Apple will absorb the additional chip costs or pass them on to customers remains to be seen. Since the company recently described the increased storage costs as "unavoidable" and traditionally maintains high margins in the premium segment, there's little to suggest that the new costs will be fully absorbed internally. For German buyers, this means that the prospect of falling Apple prices is becoming increasingly unlikely, while further price increases are already looming.

Apple's cost problem is worsening

With the TSMC price increase, the cost drivers are piling up: more expensive memory, more expensive logic chips, and a particularly demanding product year in 2027. This will make it more difficult for Apple to maintain its usual price level without sacrificing its profit margins. How much of this will ultimately reach the end customer should become clear with the release of the 2027 products. (Image: Shutterstock / prawest)