Microsoft has delivered its third Xbox console price hike since May 2025, announcing increases of between $100 and $150 per unit effective 1 August 2026, with the company citing a memory and storage cost crisis that it says has no end in sight.
The announcement landed on the same day Apple raised prices on several of its product lines, handing consumers a twin blow ahead of the holiday shopping season.
How much Xbox prices are rising, and from where
Before the August increases, the Xbox Series S 1TB was priced at $449 in the United States and the Xbox Series X 1TB Digital at $549, according to Thurrott. The 512GB models will rise by $100 and the 1TB versions by $150, pushing those two configurations to $599 and $699 respectively. Microsoft is discontinuing the 2TB model entirely.
The company has now raised Xbox prices three times since May 2025. Ars Technica reported that the Xbox Series X launched at $500 in 2020 and, after the October 2025 round of increases, reached $650. The August hike adds a further $150, taking that model to $800, some $250 to $300 above its launch price, a figure Microsoft itself noted in its announcement.
In its blog post, Microsoft explained the reasoning: ‘Last October, we increased XBOX console price by $20-$70 in the U.S. We hoped another price increase would not be necessary, and we have spent the last several months working with suppliers on options. Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027.’
The company also argued that consoles occupy a uniquely vulnerable position in the supply chain. ‘The entire consumer electronics industry is struggling with the current components crisis, but the effects are particularly hard on consoles,’ Microsoft said. ‘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.’
To soften the blow, Microsoft said it would continue offering certified refurbished consoles at up to $100 off through the Microsoft Store, alongside buy-now-pay-later and interest-free financing options, Thurrott reported.
Apple joins the Xbox console price hike wave on the same day
Apple announced its own round of increases on 25 June 2026, also attributing them to the memory chip shortage. The entry-level MacBook Neo rose from $599 to $699, the 128GB iPad Air from $599 to $749, and the 256GB iPad Pro Wi-Fi from $999 to $1,199, according to PBS NewsHour. Apple said: ‘we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today’s increases for iPad and Mac.’
CNN reported that Apple’s cheapest iPad climbed from $349 to $449, and the iPad Mini received a $100 increase to $599. Across its full range, Apple’s increases reached as much as $300 on individual products.
The simultaneous announcements from two of the world’s largest consumer electronics companies on the same day reflect how broadly the memory shortage is spreading through the industry. Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Nintendo’s Switch 2 have both previously seen price increases for the same reason. Microsoft noted that computers relying on the same chips have also become more costly to produce.
A wider market in motion
The Xbox console price hike lands in a gaming market already under pressure. Thurrott reported this week that Valve revealed its Steam Machine will start at $1,049 in the United States for the 512GB model without a controller, setting a new high-water mark for dedicated gaming hardware pricing at launch.
For Microsoft, the pricing trajectory is steep. The first hike came in May 2025, shortly after new US tariffs were applied to products manufactured overseas, according to CNET. The second followed in October 2025. The August 2026 round is now the third in just over a year, and the company has given no indication the pressure is easing: its own forecast projects storage and memory costs doubling again by the fall of 2027.
Whether Sony or Nintendo move to match the latest Xbox increases before the holiday season will be the next indicator of how far the components crisis has to run.