Apple Product Prices Just Jumped Substantially

Apple just made owning a new Mac or iPad noticeably pricier. Early Thursday, the company quietly took its online store offline, then brought it back with laptop and tablet prices up roughly 15% to 25%, per the Wall Street Journal. The entry MacBook Air now starts at $1,299, up $200; the base MacBook Pro jumps $300 to $1,999; and the entry-level MacBook Neo rises $100 to $699. On the tablet side, the iPad Air climbs $150 to $749, and the iPad Pro is up $200 to $1,199. Prices for iPhones are unchanged for now, though CNBC reports Apple is "leaving the door open to more increases down the line."

In a statement, Apple said it had "reached a point" where increases were necessary, calling recent component cost spikes unprecedented. CEO Tim Cook last week described the hikes as "unavoidable," pointing to memory and storage chips whose prices have roughly quadrupled in a year amid heavy demand from AI-focused data centers. Chipmaker Micron, which just reported profit margins above 80%, expects tight supplies to stretch past 2027. The irony: Apple has long used its buying power to squeeze memory makers on price—pressure that Micron's chief business officer says helped choke off investment during the last downturn, per the Journal. Now, the bill is coming due for consumers.