Thinking About Buying a MacBook or iPad Right Now? Read This First.
Apple just raised prices across its Mac and iPad lineup. If you have been sitting on an upgrade decision, here is what changed, what it means for your options, and whether waiting makes any sense.
The new prices
The increases hit this week across multiple products:
MacBook Air (512GB): $1,099 to $1,299 MacBook Pro (1TB): $1,699 to $1,999 MacBook Neo: $599 to $699 iPad Air (128GB): $599 to $749 HomePod and Apple TV also went up.
The MacBook Neo increase is worth paying attention to. Apple launched it in March as its most affordable laptop, aimed directly at budget Windows and Chromebook buyers. At $599, it had a clean $100 edge over Dell’s XPS 13, which Dell priced at $699 specifically to go head-to-head with it. That edge is gone.
Why prices went up
Memory chips, specifically dynamic random-access memory, are in short supply for consumer electronics because AI data center construction is consuming them faster than manufacturers can produce them. Companies racing to build AI infrastructure have been locking up chip supply through long-term deals with memory makers. Micron reported this week it has secured $22 billion in such commitments.
What that leaves for laptops, tablets, and phones is less inventory at sharply higher prices. According to industry tracker TrendForce, DRAM prices rose as much as 98% in the first quarter of 2026 and are on track to rise another 58 to 63% in the current quarter. Apple held prices as long as it could using existing inventory, but flagged in April that the pressure would catch up by the end of June.
Should you buy now or wait?
This depends on what you are buying and why.
If you need a MacBook or iPad now, buying sooner is the safer call. Apple has not signaled that prices will come back down, and the memory cost environment is not expected to improve through the rest of the year. The current prices are likely the floor, not the peak.
If you were waiting for a new iPhone, the calculus is different. Apple did not raise iPhone prices in this round, and there is a reason for that. Analysts expect iPhone price increases to come, but timed after the fall hardware announcement so the launch headlines stay on new features rather than higher costs. The phone itself will probably be worth evaluating on its merits when it arrives, then deciding.
If the MacBook Neo was your pick because of the price, the value case is weaker now. At $699, it is level with the Dell XPS 13 and more expensive than several Chromebooks from Lenovo and Asus. Whether you stay in the Apple ecosystem at that price is a question only you can answer, but the budget argument for the Neo no longer holds the same way it did three months ago.
What about other brands?
Apple has some of the strongest supplier relationships in the industry. If it could not avoid raising prices, brands without those relationships are in a tougher spot. IDC projects the PC market will fall 11.3% this year and the smartphone market will see a decline of nearly 14%, its largest annual drop on record. Prices across the board, not just Apple, are expected to stay elevated for the foreseeable future.
The short version: this is not a great time to buy consumer electronics, but it is probably not getting meaningfully better this year either.
