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This is even worse than expected.
We knew Apple was going to hike prices, but some of the price increases are pretty astounding. All the details are here, including a handy chart. Better get a box of tissues first.
I’ve never seen anything like it in decades covering the company. Apple occasionally raises prices for new models, but I’ve never seen price hikes mid-cycle. And not of this magnitude. Memory and storage prices are way up, too. Apple stock is down about 5%.
This comes just as Apple was rolling out lower-priced, entry-level products like the MacBook Neo. Needless to say, it’s not such a bargain any more.
It’s too soon to tell if this will cause a big drop in sales for Apple, but it certainly ain’t gonna help. Apple’s products were already premium; now they’re premium pro plus max.
If it’s any consolation — and it isn’t — Apple’s competitors have raised prices too. And of course, it comes in the middle of a much broader affordability crisis.
Hate to say this, but Amazon’s Prime Day is still going on and the price hikes aren’t yet reflected in Amazon’s prices. This might be the last chance to get a reasonably-priced Mac or iPad.
Also in today’s newsletter:
Apple didn’t hike iPhone prices — for now. But that won’t last, and premium products like the upcoming folding iPhone fold might be really expensive. Like, shockingly so.
Here’s more good news: A new macOS exploit can shut down anti-virus protections, no password required.
🔥 DEAL OF THE DAY: I was going to plug the 11-inch M4 iPad Air (which went from $599 to $749, but Amazon had it for $519 for Prime Day; a great deal on a M-Series machine that runs Apple Intelligence on device) — but sadly it looks like it sold out. If it comes back, I’m getting one. Meantime, there’s a ton of Blink cameras and video doorbells at really big discounts — some as high as 80% off.
This is interesting: Thanks to the AI boom that’s hiking prices (boo!), Apple is fast-tracking AI-focused M7 chips (also boo!). It’s sure to accelerate Apple’s lead in local AI processing even further. (Just kidding about the boo: I’m pandering to all the AI skeptics that seem to be the majority of readers.)
On the new products front: Apple is planning to make a health-tracking ‘iRing’ and will be rolling out a second-gen ‘iPhone Ultra.’ But thin sales of the ultra-thin iPhone Air put its future in jeopardy.
We also seem to have a few OG AirPort and Time Capsule users: See yesterday’s poll results below.
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
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Today’s poll
How bad are Apple's price hikes?
Results from yesterday’s poll:
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