Yep. I too, was to replace my iPad Air and wanted to do it in a few months but..
The below list is from Reuters and in US$ dollars…
MacBook Neo (256 GB) $599 → $699
MacBook Air (512GB) $1,099 → $1,299
MacBook Pro (1TB) $1,699 → $1,999
iPad Air 128GB (11") $599 → $749
iPad Pro 256GB (11") $999- > $1,199
HomePod $299 → $349
HomePod Mini $99 → $129
Apple TV set-top box $129 → $199
I immediately snagged an Apple TV at the old price from a retailer.
One of the reasons Rokus are so cheap is that the platform increasingly monitors and monetizes your habits and inserts ads. I have one that has been working fine for a decade now, but the creeping feeling that I’m the product had me planning to get an Apple TV box at the next refresh. Today’s price increase pushed me to immediate action.
I immediately snagged an Apple TV at the old price from a retailer.
Same here. I was going to replace my Gen 1 4K model with a Gen 4 when they came out but I asked myself this afternoon: what are the odds that the Gen 4 will have a new feature that I think is worth an extra $100 (for the ethernet model)? I think I’ll be able to muddle along with a Gen 3 just fine; I’ll put that money towards a new Watch this fall instead.
The MacBook Neo sold incredibly well because of its great value proposition and was initially seen as this genius move. Apple was hailed for its astuteness in going for best value while Wintel manufacturers were forced to jack up prices on their low-end models due to component cost increase. Yet just few weeks later here we are with Apple doing exactly what the rest had been doing and massively raising the price of ironically the one Mac that contains the least amount of RAM and flash. I’m a bit baffled that Apple’s vain execs with their overinflated compensation and flashy hairdos couldn’t see what was about to come just weeks to months out. Perhaps they should spend a bit less time at the salon and a bit more with their numbers guys. (speaking of number guys, that reminds me of this hilarious scene from The Big Short, enjoy)
But, frankly, people can complain about this all day long on forums. Apple will choose to protect their XXL-sized margins as long as they can. Just look at their share price history. So if folks want Apple to eat into their margins rather than jack up prices on what should be affordable everyday gadgets, the only way to get them to do that is to just stop purchasing. Or at least delay as far as possible. If their sales actually tank (don’t worry, yesterday’s stock plunge won’t last), they will be forced to move. But if they don’t, well, they’ll just pocket the extra earnings and laugh all the way to the bank. Along with people like myself who get to enter lavish retirement early because AAPL keeps gifting us for doing essentially nothing.
There is a bit of irony to all this. These massive price hikes are being sold to the public as the consequence of DRAM and NAND cost increase that is driven by massive AI infrastructure investments. But the very products being jacked up and out of affordability range are those that manufacturers at the very same time are marketing to consumers for AI use. The snake is devouring its tail. Moving ahead, I wish us all less A and more I.
Apple has an allergy to raising prices with its annual releases. I think that when a technology is introduced, Apple sets an initially high price, but as the years pass, internal improvements and inflation raise the general price level, making the Apple device a reasonable value. At some point, Apple has to reset the price to get the margins it wants.
As a major consumer of RAM, Apple had also been able to force favorable deals with suppliers. However, with competition from new AI players, Apple has lost that position and become a price taker rather than a price maker. So it became time for a major reset.
What initially seems weird in the resets is that the major increase is for the oldest devices being sold, the Apple TV. John Gruber has theorized that the replacement is going on sale very soon, and Apple didn’t want the higher price to be the major topic of conversation when it is released.
Four-ish months ago me is very proud of himself for anticipating this and jumping on the new M5 MacBook Air (to replace the M2 I bought four years ago) rather than wait a year, like I originally planned. Also proud of buying the M4 Mac mini (with a two day delivery) rather than wait a few more months.
I did a quick search around and found several retailers with the M4 iPad Air i was planning to buy at the £699 price and got one yesterday.
On Thursday, our local Costco was offering it at £647 but on Friday the listing vanished.
Or another way to look at it is when the cost of technology drops, Apple hangs on to the higher price.
I think it is a third way: Apple says, a computer costs $2,495. What you get for that much money changes over the years.
In a similar way, for many years, I said that the Mac I wanted was around $3,000, regardless of the year. As tech prices decreased, I eventually adjusted that to $2-2.5k. It’s still there, mostly because of modern Apple’s RAM and SSD premiums.