Apple has raised prices across the board on Thursday, pointing a finger Ramageddon with what Apple CEO Tim Cook called an “inevitable” response to rising memory and storage prices as demand for these components grows with the spread of AI data centers. The price increase hit many of Apple’s product lines, including The iPad, MacApple TV, HomePod and VisionPro. Apparently, only The iPhone again Apple Watch we are saved.
What upsets me the most is that Apple has raised the price of its budget MacBook Neo. We finally got a MacBook built for student budgets, and in a flash, it’s gone. Neo’s student prices of $499 last for almost a semester.
Just three and a half months after Apple drastically reduced the entry-level MacBook, it turned around and raised the price by $100. Now, the MacBook Neo starts at $699 from Appleagain students can get it for $599. (At the time of this writing, it is still available $590 at Amazon.)
The cost of the step-up model with Touch ID and double the storage also increased by $100. Now it costs $799, or $699 with Apple’s educational discount. (It still is $690 at Amazon.)
Is it really RAM?
Apple and other computer makers point to increased demand for memory and storage from AI data centers, dubbed RAMageddon, as the reason for rising component prices, forcing them to raise the price of the computers they sell. But with only 8GB of RAM and a modest 256GB SSD, the base MacBook Neo doesn’t seem worth the $100 increase. And given that the step-up model only gets you a 512GB SSD with no memory increase, its $100 price increase feels steep, too.
I think Apple is hiding the real reason for the Neo price increase: It sold out of its first supply of Neos that used leftover iPhone processors and now has to incur additional production costs for the A18 Pro chips to meet Neo demand.
As previously reportedApple was preparing a new production of MacBook Neo, increasing the number of units to 10 million from its initial launch, estimated at 5 to 6 million. And the equation changes for Apple when it no longer has a bunch of A18 Pro chips to borrow from this new Neo run.
I suspect that RAMageddon is a convenient excuse for Apple to cover the additional costs of making new Neos. Or at least, that’s not the only reason why Apple raised the price of the Neo a few months after its launch.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the idea.
Now it will cost you $799 to turn that lock button into a Touch ID sensor.
A big upgrade for the MacBook Air and Pro
What throws cold water on my opinion of the Neo is that Apple slapped big price increases on the MacBook Air and Pro lines. The price of the MacBook Air increased by $200, and the MacBook Pro increased by $300.
The 13-inch MacBook Air now starts at $1,299, and the 15-inch Air now starts at $1,499.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro now starts at $1,999, and the 16-inch Pro now starts at $2,999.
The MacBook Air comes with a minimum of 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, while the MacBook Pro comes with a minimum of 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
“We’ve never seen the price of a component go up so much, so quickly,” Apple said in a statement. “Now we’re at the point where we have to start raising prices on many products, including today’s iPad and Mac increases.”
The price of MacBook is going up
| Model | Old price | New price |
|---|---|---|
| MacBook Neo | $599 | $699 |
| 13-inch MacBook Air | $1,099 | $1,299 |
| 15-inch MacBook Air | $1,299 | $1,499 |
| 14-inch MacBook Pro | $1,699 | $1,999 |
| 16-inch MacBook Pro | $2,699 | $2,999 |
Neo vs. Air
While it hurts students and their parents to pay $100 more for a MacBook Neo for school, you might try to console yourself by comparing that increase to the price of a new MacBook Air. With the Neo jumping from $599 to $699, and the Air jumping from $1,099 to $1,299, the gap between the two has grown. The Neo now costs $600 less than the cheapest Air.
While that reasoning might help justify being forced to pay more for a MacBook Neo, the $100 price increase still hurts anyone already dealing with the high costs of higher education.
The MacBook Air now starts at $1,299, which is a $200 increase from its previous price.
Some Macs are more expensive now, too
Apple’s Mac desktops were not preserved. Price increases for iMac, Mac Mini and Mac Studio.
Apple has raised the price of the iMac by $200 to $1,499. It brought back the base M4 Mac Mini with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage in May, but it came back with a $200 price hike. The M4 Pro model also got a $200 price hike.
That’s an increase in alertness compared to what Mac Studio achieved. The M4 Max model now starts at $2,499, up $500. And if you’re sitting down, I’ll tell you how much a Mac Studio with an M3 Ultra chip is now worth. It starts at $5,299, a staggering $1,300 price increase.
The price of a Mac desktop is going up
| Model | Old price | New price |
|---|---|---|
| Mac | $1,299 | $1,499 |
| Mac Mini (M4) | $599 | $799 |
| Mac Mini (M4 Pro) | $1,399 | $1,599 |
| Mac Studio (M4 Max): $2,499, up from $1,999 (+$500) | $1,999 | $2,499 |
| Mac Studio (M3 Ultra): $5,299, up from $3,999 (+$1,300) | $3,999 | $5,299 |
