A few days ago, Apple finally confirmed that the "unprecedented challenge" of the RAM crisis had forced it to hike the prices of some of its hardware, with some devices now costing as much as $1,300 more than they did this time last week.
Question is, are these latest price hikes a fair trade-off for quality devices being manufactured at a time when the AI boom is eating up mountains of RAM, and the Strait of Hormuz shipping disruption has put further commercial pressures on manufacturers, or is Apple being greedy?
Tom's Guide member relh didn't hold back, commenting, "I can understand why Apple had to make an increase but I am not planning to help them maintain their huge profit margin (which I understand is north of 30%). For the first time since 1984 when I bought my first Mac (yes, the very expensive 128K model) I am thinking about bailing on Apple."
This comment made me feel both nostalgic for the first Apple product I used, and sympathetic to the user's point.
In response to our recent poll asking "At what point do you usually give up and buy a new Mac?", relh continued, "My answer to the survey used to be 'when hardware can’t run latest system software'. This would have applied this year when my Intel iMac could not run new macOS BUT this year the ridiculous increase of more than 30% for a Mac Studio put a stop to that. I had planned to upgrade on Friday but the price increase I saw on Thursday was more than I could tolerate."
What do you think? Let us know in the below poll, and in the comments section.
Apple Increases
Apple has raised the cost of MacBooks, desktop Macs, iPads, Vision Pro and even the less-memory-hungry devices like Apple TV 4K and Homepod... and has hinted that this is just the beginning. Among the full list of Apple price hikes are these notable ones:
- Apple TV 4K: $199 (up from $129, $70 increase)
- HomePod: $349 (up from $299, $50 increase)
- iPad: $449 (up from $349, $100 increase)
- MacBook Neo: $699 (up from $599, $100 increase)
- iMac: $1,499 (up from $1,299, $200 increase)
- M5 Pro MacBook Pro: $2,499 (up from $2,199, $300 increase)
- Vision Pro: $3,699 (up from $3,499, $200 increase)
- M5 Max MacBook Pro: $4,099 (up from $3,599, $500 increase)
- M3 Ultra Mac Studio: $5,299 (up from $3,999, $1,300 increase)
The UK prices mirror the above US prices.
Apple users reactions
Our members weren't the only ones expressing their opinions on Apple's price hikes, with Redditors also feeling hot under the collar. On a thread in r/macbook, a user named Up_Beat_Argument wrote, "I feel like I watched the entire ripple effect work its way through the market, and it was surreal. Like being in a nightmare you can’t wake up from... And I guess the worst part is that it’s going to get worse before it gets better."
Among the 140 comments in that thread, users echoed sentiments about the new prices being too steep, mused that they may need to downgrade their tech in order to afford a new device, and echoed concerns about Apple's profit margins being an unspoken driver behind the costs.
Watching the Apple price hike unfold was surreal from r/macbook
Are these Redditors being too cynical, or do you think there's more than a grain of truth there?
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On another thread, SwampYankee said, "I’d be surprised if they didn’t raise iPhone prices soon." This matches up with what analysts told my colleague Tom Pritchard about iPhone 18 price hikes likely being worse than we thought.
Comment from r/apple
To which perthguppy added, "Also, announce unpopular stuff from the outgoing CEO now, and give the new CEO a better honeymoon period."
They may have a point.
Comment from r/apple
Users on a thread titled 'Wall Street isn't buying Apple's unprecedented price hikes on products', though still generally disgruntled at the soaring RRPs, speculated that perhaps the increase was so steep because Apple had held off increasing prices for a couple of years, to avoid bad publicity.
Whatever the future holds for Apple prices (and let's face it, it's super unlikely to be any permanent reductions), perhaps it's time to consider shopping second-hand and refurbished Apple products for the time being.
How do you feel about the price hikes? Let us know in the comments below.
