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Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads

reuters.com

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Re: Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads

#201

Post by thewebguyd »

varispeed wrote: post #153
cryo32 wrote: post #140

I suspect that these prices are going to seriously dent sales. RAM is getting crushed. I bet the next step is going to be dumb terminals and centralisation onto all the hardware that the cloud companies bought up for AI and found wasn't possible to get any ROI out. Bezos was all over that already. We are truly entering the dark ages of personal computing.

I know some organisations were already moving to thin clients last year. Citing cutting costs and improving security (the data doesn't stay in employee's laptop and all access to virtual desktop is thoroughly centrally logged). Massive pushback (lagging, accessibility issues, slow) from workers was ignored and many people quit.

We aren't quite there yet where I work but those conversations are starting. We've already pushed refresh cycles out for the non-tech folks from 3 years out to 5 years with justification (basically has to be broken or battery shot, otherwise its run it til it dies or no longer gets updates, no more automatic refresh).

Sucks, but can't say I disagree with the fresh times though. There hasn't been a compelling need to upgrade all knowledge workers every 3 years anyway. An M2 air from 2022 is still fine today and will likely continue to be fine for at least another 3 years or more.

Re: Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads

#202

Post by asats »

deadbabe wrote: post #25

Holy shit, if Apple is being pushed to do this, something they never would have done before before a refresh, then it must mean there is some truth about these memory stocks eventually reaching trillion dollar market caps at this rate.

>there is some truth about these memory stocks eventually reaching trillion dollar market caps

What do you mean "eventually"?

Samsung $1.529 T SK Hynix $1.345 T Micron $1.343 T

Re: Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads

#204

Post by thewebguyd »

mDyJzDPmBdG wrote: post #44
piinbinary wrote: post #4

I have a suspicion these new prices will stick around, even after the RAM shortage ends. Speaking of which, what's the timeline of the RAM shortage ending? I have no sense for whether it is going to be (for example) 6 months or 3 years.

On supply side 3 years is about right, new plants won't come online faster. Demand might collapse faster if some AI companies go bankrupt or at very least fail next funding round.

Depends on who goes bankrupt and what happens to their IP when it happens. If OpenAI or Anthropic liquidate, and the IP gets scooped up by MS, Amazon or Google, demand will remain, the public clouds will still want to run them. Maybe some pressure will come off if they lose the appetite to train new models for a while, inference is cheaper, but they'll still finish some of the buildout.

Re: Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads

#205

Post by tristor »

jnwatson wrote: post #190
tristor wrote: post #31

The 128GB M5 Max MBP I ordered at launch was $7049 and is now $9849 for the same configuration, that's nearly a 30% price increase and more than $2000 bump. During the same time from launch to now, I have seen local LLMs get significantly better, to the point that I wish more people had hardware like this to be able to localize their workloads. I can't help but think society is moving in the wrong direction with this…

I would get nervous carrying around a $10k laptop.

I get more nervous not carrying it around when I travel. It's a lot easier to steal things that aren't on your person. That said, I get what you mean. I cover my photography gear with insurance and the computer since it is used for my photography (in addition to local LLMs) is covered under that insurance also.

Re: Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads

#206

Post by brandon272 »

electriclove wrote: post #151
brandon272 wrote: post #65

Was looking at upgrading my M1 Air (16/1TB) to an M5 Air (24/2TB). This price increase changes the time horizon of that upgrade from “now” to “let’s try and get 18-24 more months out of this thing”.

Prices have not updated at some retailers yet (Amazon, Best Buy, Costco). Get a move on! Prices are not going to come down anytime soon

Unfortunately the configuration I need is not available through any of those retailers.

The way I approach these purchases is amortized cost over time. I do not expect prices to be lower in 2 years but if I can keep using my older hardware for longer, I am more open to absorbing the blow of the higher cost down the road.

Re: Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads

#209

Post by thewebguyd »

juancn wrote: post #197

Apple doesn't like to be held hostage, it has the cash coffers, so it wouldn't surprise me if they're somehow buying dedicated production capacity for the future. Not that they will start making memory themselves, but they have bankrolled production expansions in their suppliers before in exchange for guaranteed supply. In any case, if my guess is right, it would take years to take effect.

Wouldn't surprise me, but Cook did rule out building their own anyway

  > Cook said Apple is willing to deploy its balance sheet to help secure supply and called for all options to be examined, including a review of national security restrictions on Chinese memory suppliers. He ruled out building Apple's own memory factories.
Above all else, any focus to corner supply for them will be focused on the iPhone. It's their cash cow, nearly half of their revenue. They'll sacrifice other products to save the iPhone.
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