In the midst of all the announcements yesterday, Apple did quietly make one change to its iPad lineup. We've known since the start of this year that 2017 was going to be tough for NAND flash and DRAM shortages and now, that seems to have caught up with Apple as a couple of iPad Pro models have had their prices go up.
As of yesterday, the 256GB and 512GB 10.5-inch iPad Pro models and all of the 12.9-inch versions have had a price bump of $50. Sources speaking with 9to5Mac confirmed that the increase was due to NAND prices rising due to the current shortage.
This is somewhat ironic as Apple is usually a major cause of NAND supply shortages each year, as the company buys up a significant chunk of the world's supply in the build up to each iPhone launch. This is especially true this year, as Apple is launching a third iPhone- the iPhone X, alongside the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.
When these shortages work themselves out towards early next year, hopefully we will see prices start to settle down too.
KitGuru Says: This was bound to happen eventually, after all, DRAM and NAND shortages have been big news in the tech industry pretty much all year long. Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to live with these price increases for a bit longer.