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Apple raised their prices. This is not a rumor or a supply chain warning from Tim Cook. The actual live prices on Apple’s website all went up, across the board. Macs and iPads both took a hit, and even the Apple TV costs more than it used to. Some of these increases are annoying and some of them are significant, so I want to walk you through every single one, tell you how much more you are paying, and be honest about whether it changes the buying math.
One quick note before the breakdown: it is Prime Days as I write this, and some of these Mac prices have not gone up at the retailers yet. A few are still on sale. If you were already planning to buy, the links in this post point to the current best prices, and I would grab a deal while you still can.
The Mac laptops all went up, and the Air jump hurts most
Every MacBook is more expensive now. Here is where each one lands.
The MacBook Neo went up by $100. That stings because the Neo is positioned as the cheapest way into the Mac ecosystem. It now starts at $700 for the 256GB version, or $800 for the 512GB version that gives you more room for apps and files plus the Touch ID button. At $800 it is not really the affordable computer anymore. It is just the cheapest Mac in the lineup.
The MacBook Air is up $200 across the board, and this is the one that affects the most people because the Air is Apple’s best selling Mac by a wide margin. The 13-inch now starts at $1,300 and the 15-inch at $1,500. For most people this is still the best computer to buy, but the value took a real hit.
The MacBook Pro went up $300 across every configuration, whether that is the entry M5, the M5 Pro, or the M5 Max. Pro buyers are usually less price sensitive, but $300 is still $300. The base MacBook Pro is now $2,000, and that is with the same M5 chip that is in the Air. Configure it up with more RAM or storage and you stack those increases on top of an already premium price.
| Mac laptop | New starting price | Increase |
|---|---|---|
| MacBook Neo (256GB) | $700 | +$100 |
| MacBook Neo (512GB) | $800 | +$100 |
| MacBook Air 13-inch | $1,300 | +$200 |
| MacBook Air 15-inch | $1,500 | +$200 |
| MacBook Pro (M5) | $2,000 | +$300 |
| MacBook Pro (M5 Pro) | $2,500 | +$300 |
| MacBook Pro 14-inch (M5 Max) | $4,100 | +$300 |
The desktops took the biggest single hits
The desktop side is where the numbers get rough.
The M4 Mac Mini quietly lost its cheapest option a couple of weeks ago. There is no more 256GB version. The 512GB M4 Mac Mini still comes in at $800, and that is the best value buy in Apple’s entire lineup right now. The M4 Pro Mac Mini, though, went up $200 to $1,600 for a Mac Mini.
The Mac Studio is another big one. It got a $500 increase and Apple did not even bump the starting storage to soften it. The M4 Max Mac Studio now costs $2,500 with 36GB of RAM and just a 512GB SSD. This one would have been easier to swallow if Apple had dropped that base 512GB drive. If you were already in the market for a Studio you know what it does, and $500 may not change your decision, but it is a significant number to just absorb.
Last is the iMac, up from $1,300 to $1,500 for the base model. Another disappointing choice, and it pushes me even harder toward telling people to just get a base M4 Mac Mini if they need an affordable desktop.
Every iPad is more expensive now too
It is not just the laptops. All four iPad models went up.
- iPad A16: up $100, from $350 to $450. This is supposed to be the cheap starter iPad, and $450 is hard to recommend as the way into the ecosystem. That hike hits casual buyers directly.
- iPad Mini: up $100, from $500 to $600. This model is overdue for a refresh, so I would not buy a Mini right now, especially at the new price.
- iPad Air: up $150 across the board, starting at $750 for the 11-inch. The Air has always been the “I want more than the base but cannot justify the Pro” pick, and that gap is narrowing.
- iPad Pro: up $200 across the board. The 11-inch is now $1,200 and the 13-inch is $1,500.
At $1,200 the 11-inch iPad Pro is barely cheaper than a MacBook Air. The display is genuinely excellent, but this increase makes the Pro even more out of reach for most people. Most buyers should not be spending over $1,000 on an iPad, because most are not taking advantage of the power in the operating system. At this point it is a luxury item, and it is getting hard to recommend.
Why Apple did this, and why it is not random
Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal last week that these increases were unavoidable. He pointed to memory and storage chip costs, AI company demand driving up what Apple pays, and the reality that Apple eventually passes that on to us.
That part is true. I have watched SSDs that were going for $200 to $300 now selling for $900 to $1,200. Some drives and RAM have gone up at least four times over. Those same components go into these computers, so we end up paying for them.
But these increases are not random, and that is the part worth noticing. They are consistent across the lineup, and the more expensive the product, the bigger the jump. That is a margin story. Apple is not just recovering the chip cost. They are using this moment to reset the price anchors across every single category.
Bottom line: what I would actually buy now
Here is what I want you to take away. If you were already planning to buy a Mac or an iPad, I would buy today, because there are still Prime Days deals running and some prices have not caught up yet.
My picks have not really changed, even at the new prices:
- Best laptop for most people: the MacBook Air. It still sits perfectly in the middle of the lineup. Going from the Neo up to the Air gets you far more than $500 in extra performance. Going from the $1,300 Air up to the $2,000 base Pro mostly buys you an extra port and a better display, not much more speed.
- Best desktop value: the M4 Mac Mini at $800 for the 512GB model. It is hard to justify $1,600 for the M4 Pro. Honestly, all the desktops are due for a refresh, so I would wait and spend the extra money then unless you find a genuinely good deal now.
- Best tablet: the iPad Pro is still the best tablet you can buy, even at $1,200, if you actually need what it does.
The main things I would flag are the MacBook Neo and the base MacBook Pro. At $800 for the 512GB Neo with only 8GB of RAM, the case for just stretching to the Air gets stronger. And the base Pro asks $500 more than the Air for very little extra performance.
If you are still not sure which Mac or iPad fits your situation, I offer personalized buying help where I will email you and walk through the best option for how you actually use it.
