Apple lost its preferred customer status with their chip manufacturers. They were the largest single purchaser until last year but now they have to compete for resources with Nvidia and aren’t willing to get into the bidding war.

I’m not gonna defend Apple prices, but they are a tech company that makes actual tech products, so they are still at the mercy of supply and demand for high tech products, especially when they lose their sweetheart rates. It’s just another way that the AI bubble is eating capitalism alive.