Google confirms higher Pixel 11 prices as RAM costs surge sixfold

Google has confirmed that its upcoming Pixel 11 phones will cost more than their predecessors, becoming the latest major phone maker to pass on the cost of a global memory shortage that has sent RAM prices to levels the industry has never seen. In an interview with 9to5Google published on Thursday, Shakil Barkat, Google’s vice president of devices and services, said the company had shielded consumers from supply fluctuations for as long as possible but that the economics have now fundamentally shifted. The entire Pixel family, including the Pixel Watch, will see price adjustments rolled out dynamically to match what Barkat called supply realities.

Barkat pointed to Morgan Stanley data showing that the cost of one gigabyte of RAM jumped from $2 and 80 cents in 2025 to $12 this year, a roughly sixfold increase. For a flagship phone shipping with 16 GB of RAM, that translates to a bill-of-materials jump from roughly $45 per handset to approximately $192, according to the bank’s analysis. The surge is driven by memory makers redirecting wafer capacity toward the high-bandwidth memory used in AI data centres, squeezing the supply available for consumer devices.

Google will reveal specific pricing at its Made by Google event on August 12 in New York, but leaked retail listings have already outlined what to expect. The base Pixel 11 is expected to start at $899, up $100 from the Pixel 10’s $799 entry point, with the 128 GB storage tier eliminated entirely and 256 GB becoming the new baseline. The Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL are also expected to climb by $100 each, while leaked specifications suggest the Pro models will drop from 16 GB to 12 GB of RAM at the 256 GB storage tier.

Samsung set the template earlier this year when it launched the Galaxy S26 with a $100 price increase on two of its three models and similarly eliminated the 128 GB option, framing the move as a storage upgrade. Apple has been raising prices across its entire product lineup since June, when Tim Cook called the increases “unavoidable,” and is expected to hike iPhone prices when new models arrive in September. Qualcomm has told customers that chip prices will rise by double-digit percentages on shipments after September 1.

Google’s response goes beyond pricing. Barkat said the company has launched what he called a dedicated effort to reduce memory requirements across Android and its app ecosystem, with the goal of enabling devices to run on less RAM without degrading the user experience. The company credited its vertically integrated approach, combining its Tensor chip, Android software, and on-device AI models, with allowing it to load and execute models more efficiently than competitors that rely on off-the-shelf components.

Whether that engineering work can offset the sticker shock will become clear on August 12, when buyers find out exactly how much more they will pay for the privilege of keeping their phone’s RAM out of an AI server.