Apple just delivered the worst kind of news: price hikes across many of its major products (even the Neo) — and yes, RAM prices are to blame | Tech Radar
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Apple just delivered the worst kind of news: price hikes across many of its major products (even the Neo) — and yes, RAM prices are to blame
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While everyone is busy scooping up Amazon Prime Day deals on all manner of gadgets, Apple just dropped the opposite of deal news: price hikes across most major product categories, including the new Mac Book Neo, Mac Book Air, Apple TV, Home Pod mini, and more.
Look, it's not like we didn't see this coming. Apple's outgoing CEO Tim Cook may be the supply chain maverick, ensuring the tech giant had ample supplies of components to fill tech orders for months, but the RAM and component crisis has dragged on for long enough that even Apple has been dragged in.
Cook warned us last month during an earnings call in which he cited "significantly higher memory costs" and then added that, starting this month, RAM prices would "drive an increasing impact" on Apple's products.
That impact has now translated into higher prices for numerous Apple products, which Apple announced by, well, not really announcing them. Instead, the Apple Store went offline at around 7:30AM ET on Thursday and then returned an hour later with new prices and, basically, no fanfare.
Among the devices seeing a price hike is the exciting and affordable new Mac Book Neo, a mobile CPU-powered laptop that was perfectly built for the back-to-school market, and at
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There is essentially bad news across multiple categories.
The Mac Book Air 13-inch with the M5 chip, a laptop I called "the best ultraportable I've ever used," jumps from
Other products getting price hikes include the Apple TV streaming box (now starts at
Perhaps more disturbing for the back-to-school set, the i Pad Air base system jumps from
One of the more shocking price hikes is for a product that, perhaps thankfully, many will not sweat: the Vision Pro. At
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Shielded from these price hikes is Apple's entire i Phone lineup, Apple Watch, and Air Pods. So there's that.
It's fairly clear Apple didn't want to do this. In fact, it's hard to remember a time when Apple summarily raised so many prices at once, but its hand was forced. Tech companies across almost every category are responding to these RAM shortages with higher prices.
We've contacted Apple and then sent us this comment: “The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge. The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly. We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today’s increases for i Pad and Mac. We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions.”
If and when the RAM crisis subsides, will prices return to pre-RAM shortage levels, or is Apple setting a new normal? Only time will tell.
In the meantime, Prime Day is still live, and there are ample chances to snap up good deals on these gadgets before you're left with nothing but the higher prices (where prices are rising). You'll find the best deals we spotted on i Pads, Mac Books, and more below.
Amazon has the newest i Pad Air with the M4 chipset on sale for $519 right now. In addition to Apple's superfast brain, this i Pad features a crisp Liquid Retina display, 128GB of storage as standard, 12MP front and rear cameras, and support for Apple's AI features.
Apple's larger 13-inch i Pad Air with the M4 is also on sale for Prime Day, back at the lowest price ever at $699.
Apple's latest base i Pad is on sale for
With an impressive $150 discount, this Prime Day deal addresses our main complaint about the M5 Air: it's pricier than the previous model. Now, you're getting the latest chipset, 16GB of RAM, and a bigger 512GB SSD for much less, with a price that (arguably) challenges even the budget Mac Book Neo when it comes to outright value. It's a workhorse.
For creative professionals, the 14-inch Mac Book Pro powered by the performance-driven M5 Pro chip is the one to choose. This beast flies through demanding workloads like video editing without skipping a beat.
This might just be the best Prime Day tech deal - Apple's Air Pods Pro 3 for $179. Apple's newest premium buds feature improved Active Noise Cancellation, outstanding audio, a comfortable in-ear design, and new features such as live translation and heart-rate tracking. These do-it-all buds really are 100% flagship audio, and the noise-canceling quality is outstanding.
The Air Pods 4 are Apple's cheapest Air Pods, and you can find them on sale for
Amazon has the Air Pods 4 with active noise cancellation on sale for $148.99, which is the best deal you can find right now. The Air Pods 4 feature a new comfortable design, handy controls, and Apple's H2 chip, which supports personalized spatial audio and voice isolation.
Amazon has the all-new Air Pods Max 2 on sale for $399, which is the lowest price we've seen. The over-ear headphones now include Apple's H2 chip, which delivers adaptive audio, personalized volume, and improved voice isolation, resulting in superior sound. You're also getting up to 1.5x more Active Noise Cancellation and 20 hours of battery life.
If you haven't heard, wired headphones are all the rage, which is why Apple's Ear Pods for
Amazon has a $50 discount on the new Apple Watch SE 3, making it an excellent bargain. The Apple Watch SE 2 currently holds the position as the best budget smartwatch, but the SE 3 more than matches it – and it's a smarter buy while it's on sale this week at Amazon.
My favorite Prime Day Apple deal is an over $100 discount on the Apple Watch Series 11. The thinnest Apple Watch yet, with a wraparound LTP3 OLED display, it's a great-looking watch with Apple Intelligence-powered smarts and a boosted battery, clocking in at 24 hours of average use.
You can save $100 on the brand-new Apple Watch Ultra 3 at Amazon's Prime Day sale. Packed with premium features, you're getting Cellular connectivity, a boosted 42-hour battery life, and emergency satellite messaging. Today's deal is the lowest price we've seen this year.
Apple's second-generation Air Tag with louder sound, a 50% improvmenet in range for Precision Finding, and the rest of the features that made the first-gen such a great item tracker are at the lowest price ever ahead of Prime Day 2026. Right now, Amazon has a single Air Tag for just $24.
Another very good Prime Day Apple deal - Apple's 2nd-generation Air Tag 4-pack is getting a first-time discount, on sale for $89. Great for people like me who tend to misplace things, simply attach the Air Tag to anything you don't want to lose or keep track of, such as luggage or your keys, and your i Phone will locate the item.
A 38-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.
Lance Ulanoff makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC.
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