Apple unveiled its latest lineup of MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops Tuesday morning, and in the case of the MacBook Pro, the new hardware is accompanied by the announcement of new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.
The specifications of the new chips are impressivefeaturing an 18-core CPU that Apple says represents more than 4x the maximum GPU computing for AI compared to the previous generation. But consumers might be surprised to see the pricing of the new MacBook Pro devices, all of which are between $100 and $400 more expensive than their previous models.
For the base MacBook Pro, which has an M5 Pro chip, prices start at $2,199 for the 14-inch model and $2,699 for the 16-inch models. That’s $1,999 and $2,499 for the M4 Pro versions, respectively. released last year. MacBook Pro models equipped with the M5 Max chips start at $3,599 and $3,899 for the 14-inch and 16-inch models, respectively. That’s $400 more than their predecessors.
The price hike also affects the new MacBook Air laptops. The 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,099, down from $999. The 15-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,299, also up $100 from last year’s base model.
With the growing demand for computers and data centers to power AI, the market is experiencing a lack of RAMleading to higher memory prices overvoltage.
Analysts are already predicting that smartphone shipments will fall this year due to the shortage. Naturally, other hardware like laptops would also be affected, and Apple’s pricing could serve as an indicator of the extent of the impact on the industry.
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Amanda Silberling is a senior writer at TechCrunch covering the intersection of technology and culture. She has also written for publications including Polygon, MTV, Kenyon Review, NPR and Business Insider. She is co-host of Wow If True, a podcast about internet culture, with science fiction author Isabel J. Kim. Before joining TechCrunch, she worked as a grassroots organizer, museum educator, and film festival coordinator. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania and was a Princeton Asia Fellow in Laos.
You can contact or check on Amanda’s outreach by emailing amanda@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message to @amanda.100 on Signal.
