Apple’s price hikes have hit Australia and the MacBook Neo no longer looks so cheap

• Apple has increased prices in several categories in Australia
• The MacBook Neo has lost some of its entry-level appeal
• The move follows rising RAM and storage costs

Australian shoppers looking for EOFY deals or waiting for Amazon Prime Day’s first tech deals can now take note of another price change. Apple has increased local prices in several major product categories, including the new MacBook Neo, MacBook Air, iPad line, Apple TV 4K, HomePod mini and more.

The timing is tricky, but it also doesn’t come out of nowhere. Apple has generally been better than most tech companies at absorbing supply chain pressure before it reaches buyers, although the current RAM and component crisis has dragged on long enough to change that calculus.

The warning signs came last month, when Tim Cook reported “significantly higher memory costs” during an earnings conference call, then said RAM prices would have “an increasing impact” on Apple products starting that month.

Australian buyers will feel it

One of the clearest examples is the new MacBook Neo, Apple’s cheapest MacBook model and the machine most likely to appeal to students or anyone trying to get a new Apple laptop for less than the MacBook Air’s money. In Australia, it was launched at a price of AU$899. It now starts at AU$1,049, so it’s lost some of its entry-level appeal.

Sure, it’s still Apple’s cheapest laptop, but its higher starting price makes it less competitive with the Windows laptops that are fighting to compete with the Neo. The 512GB model with Touch ID has also gone from AU$1,099 to AU$1,249.

The MacBook Air has lost some of its competitive advantage, and the 13-inch model with the M5 chip (see our review of the 13-inch M5 MacBook Air) has gone from AU$1,799 to AU$2,099 to start.

The 15-inch model is up by the same AU$300, from AU$2,199 to AU$2,499. For a laptop that often sits in the middle of Apple’s mainstream Mac lineup, this represents a major blow to its value proposition.

The MacBook Pro’s increases are particularly notable in certain configurations. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 now starts at AU$3,199, up from AU$2,699, and the higher-end M5 Max models are also up several hundred dollars. Buyers looking for additional memory or storage were already faced with expensive upgrades, so the higher base prices only make that decision more difficult.

The Mac mini is another notable success. It went from AU$999 to AU$1,299, a 30% increase on a machine that has often been one of the easiest Apple desktops to justify on price.

The iPad lineup is on the rise, which is important for students, families, and anyone looking for a new tablet for work, study, travel, or general use. The 11-inch iPad Air now starts at AU$1,249, up from AU$999, while the standard iPad, iPad mini and iPad Pro models have also gone up.

The increases are not limited to Macs and iPads. The HomePod mini went from AU$149 to AU$199, the HomePod went from AU$479 to AU$549 and the Apple TV 4K went from AU$219 to AU$299. Vision Pro was already a niche product at AU$5,999, and the new starting price of AU$6,299 certainly doesn’t broaden its appeal.

Apple’s iPhone lineup, Apple Watch, and AirPods appear to have at least avoided this round of increases. This helps limit the pain for some buyers, but it doesn’t change the problem for anyone who’s been waiting to buy a Mac, iPad, or other Apple device.

Aussie Price Changes

Of course, Apple isn’t the only company facing higher memory and storage costs, but the scale of these changes remains quite notable. Price increases on one or two products are fairly easy to explain. Price increases on most Apple lines are not easy to avoid.

An Apple spokesperson said: “The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge. The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary increase in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen the price of a component increase this much and so quickly. We have protected our customers against these increases until now, but we have now reached a point where we must begin to raise prices on a number of products, including today’s increases for iPad and Mac We know this is not good news and we are working around the clock to find solutions.

The main question is whether Australian prices will come back down if the RAM shortage eases, or if these higher starting points become normal. We’re hopeful, but Apple hasn’t promised a reversal.

For now, local retailers may be worth checking more closely, especially if older inventory or short-term deal prices remain available during EOFY and early Prime Day sales periods.

To help you out, we’ve included some of the best remaining Apple deals below.

Best Apple deals at the old price

Other Apple offers

The price of these products has not increased, but they are still good deals. Want more? Check out our dedicated EOFY Apple sales page. Or for more laptops, take a look at our best EOFY laptop deals.

Lindsay is an Australian technology journalist who loves nothing more than rigorous product testing and benchmarking. He is particularly passionate about wearable computing, delving deeper into the USB-C specification or learning about energy storage, from power banks to off-grid systems. In her spare time, Lindsay is usually tinkering with endless projects or exploring the many waterways around Sydney.