United Kingdom, June 26 -- Apple has increased the prices of MacBooks and iPads around the world, citing soaring memory and storage chip costs as the artificial intelligence boom continues to drive up demand for key components.

The technology giant said some laptop and tablet prices have risen by almost 20 per cent, describing the current situation as an "unprecedented challenge" for the consumer electronics industry.

Apple said in a statement: "We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly."

The company added: "We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but 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." ...