Amid the global memory shortage, Apple didn’t raise prices for its latest iPhone and iPad. That’s not the case for its new MacBooks.
After Monday’s reveal of the iPhone 17e and iPad Air, it’s the Mac lineup’s turn for a revamp. The tech giant announced on Tuesday a new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Studio Display.
Apple introduced the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips that will power two versions of the MacBook Pro, and the MacBook Air will run on an M5 chip.
The MacBooks got a price bump along with the new chips, which offer faster performance, as well as higher storage capacity.
The MacBook Air starts at $1,099 for the 13-inch and $1,299 for the 15-inch version — a $100 price increase for each model.
The M5 Pro MacBook Pro starts at $2,199 for the 14-inch option, up from $1,999. The 16-inch will go from $2,499 to $2,699. For the M5 Max MacBook Pro, the starting price is $3,599, up from $3,199.
While Apple didn’t specify a reason for the price hikes, they arrive as the consumer electronics industry grapples with a global memory shortage as the artificial intelligence race shakes up the supply chain and market for memory chips, which are used in computers and other devices.
In its January earnings call, Apple said it expected the price of memory to continue to increase. However, CEO Tim Cook declined to speculate on whether or not it would lead to increased prices for Apple’s products.
Best Buy CEO Corie Barry addressed the memory shortage earlier on Tuesday during the retailer’s earnings call.
“As you are aware, the significantly increased demand for memory components is driving cost inflation and supply uncertainty, particularly in computing. We are partnering with our vendors to mitigate impacts on the business,” she said. “We are focused on five major themes. One, we are bringing in as much inventory as we can. We are also providing our vendors with a longer forecast horizon to better plan allocations across commercial and consumer segments and collaborate more effectively with memory partners.”
The key features that Apple highlighted in the new MacBook Air are the Liquid Retina display, up to 18 hours of battery life, and a 12 megapixel camera. It comes in four colors: sky blue, midnight, starlight, and silver. For the higher entry price, customers will also get double the amount of starting storage at 512 gigabytes.
Apple said the new MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro chip delivers faster AI image generation, LLM prompt processing, and gaming performance, with the M5 Max building on that speed even more. Apple touts the new chips as game-changers for the MacBook Pro’s AI capabilities. The M5 Pro MacBook Pro starts at one terabyte of storage, up from the previous 512 gigabytes, while the M5 Max model doubled its starting storage to two terabytes.
The Studio Display, which starts at $1,599, and the $3,299 Studio Display XDR boast 5K Retina displays designed for video editing, 3D rendering, and more workflows.
The new computers are available for pre-order starting Wednesday.
