GoKawiilis a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Apple is hiking prices in response to the ongoing memory shortage. On Thursday, the company adjusted the price of its new MacBook Neo, which will now start at $699 instead of $599, while the base MacBook Air will jump to $1,299 from $1,099, as reported earlier by Bloomberg.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro is getting an increase as well, going from $1,699 to $1,999. Meanwhile, the iPad Air will now start at $749 instead of $599, while the iPad Pro is increasing to $1,199 from $999. As spotted by MacRumors, the M4 Max Mac Studio will now cost $2,499, a big jump from $1,999. The M3 Ultra Mac Studio is now priced at $5,299, up from $3,999.
Apple is even raising the prices of its HomePod, which now costs $349 instead of $299, as well as bumping the price of the HomePod mini to $129 instead of $99. The Apple TV also now costs $199 instead of $129.
Apple CEO Tim Cook hinted at incoming price changes during an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on June 17th, saying Apple has tried to “shield” customers from price increases, but “the situation has become unsustainable.”
In the months leading up to the price increase, Apple has started adjusting some of its Mac lineups. It stopped selling the Mac Studio with 512GB of RAM in March, and later dropped the $599 Mac Mini option, meaning the device now starts at $799 with 512GB of RAM.
The price of memory and storage has surged over the past several months as AI companies buy up RAM and SSDs for the data centers powering their models. Memory suppliers, including Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, are struggling to keep up with the demand for the components needed in everything from desktop computers, phones, laptops, consoles, and even cars.
Developing...