It’s lazy thinking to see Apple as a villain in this scenario. The company might have been charging more for add-on memory than market rates, but there were real technical reasons to do so. And while critics might be castigating Cupertino for those past practices, they’ll still find themselves now paying more for whatever brand of electronic devices they use to write their screeds on in future.
It’s all about supply and demand. Memory manufacturers see the opportunity to feed AI need, even if it means sacrificing consumer markets as they do.
Cash through chaos
You can argue that the consequences of that decision are unethical. Should memory makers have considered the consequence of curtailed supply on their existing markets? After all, every business, every school, and almost every consumer is now a digital entity, and the massive increase in PC, smartphone, and other consumer electronics prices will have a consequential impact across all layers of society.