Apple has pushed a new round of device price increases onto shoppers, raising the cost of Macs and iPads by hundreds of dollars on some models after warning that higher memory and storage chip costs had made increases hard to avoid.
The company briefly took down its online store early Thursday before bringing it back with higher prices across key products. Mac prices rose roughly 15% to 20%, while iPad prices climbed about 15% to 25%.
The base MacBook Air rose by $200 to $1,299. The base MacBook Pro increased by $300 to $1,999. The entry-level MacBook Neo rose by $100 to $699. Apple also lifted iPad prices. The iPad Air increased by $150 to $749, while the iPad Pro rose by $200 to $1,199.
The increases came a week after Chief Executive Tim Cook said higher memory costs made price rises “unavoidable.” Apple also described the pressure on memory chips as “unprecedented,” tying the higher prices to the cost and availability of components used across its hardware lineup.
For customers, the change means the price of upgrading a laptop or tablet now reflects pressure from the wider chip market, not just new features or design changes.
Apple left iPhone prices unchanged, though the company hinted in a statement that more increases could follow. That keeps the company’s most important product line out of the latest round, at least for now.
