Earlier this summer, Apple dramatically increased its prices as a result of the ongoing memory crisis around the globe. Things like iPad Air increased from $599 to $749, M5 MacBook Pro from $1699 to $1999, and Apple TV from $129 to $199. That’s just a few examples, but the point is, these price hikes are steep.
It leaves the question – will Apple work on major improvements to make its products more appealing at these new prices?
Of course, some of Apple’s products have impending overhauls. MacBook Pro and iPad mini are two of them. For products that don’t have anything major in the pipeline though – I can’t imagine Apple will be super successful in selling yesterday’s tech at much higher prices and still have people feeling super compelled – especially compared to the current state of the used market.
If you could buy an M4 iPad Air for $599 (or as low as $499) a few months ago – why would you want to pay $749 now? The argument scales even further with higher priced products.
With some of Apple’s products, they haven’t changed much in quite some time. iPad Air has kept the same design and feature set since 2020 – only gaining chip upgrades and Apple Pencil Pro since. The base iPad has remained largely the same since 2022, iMac the same since 2021, and so on.
Do these products need redesigns? Not necessarily. However, I think Apple could do things to make these products more enticing at their existing price points. Perhaps miniLED displays on the iMac, 120Hz on the iPad Air, or a laminated display on the base iPad.
Those would be relatively cheap upgrades compared to the increased prices – and would probably help users feel a lot better about buying at these newer prices. On the flip side, Apple could potentially downgrade some products to offset the higher prices. Perhaps we’ll see a return of 128GB iPhones.
How do you feel about Apple’s product lineup post-price hikes? Let us know in the comments.
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Michael is 9to5Mac’s Weekend Editor, keeping up with all of the latest Apple news on Saturday and Sunday. He got started in the world of Apple news during the pandemic, and it became a growing hobby. He’s also an indie iOS developer in his free time, and has published numerous apps over the years.
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