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Apple is going to raise device prices, but when?

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Re: Apple is going to raise device prices, but when?

#51

Post by ClikeX »

cockpump wrote: post #38
ndiddy wrote: post #29

They already did, to an extent. The base Mac Mini used to be $600 with a 256 GB SSD, but they got rid of that and now the cheapest option is the $800 512 GB model. The typical Apple strategy is to make the base model of a given computer the price competitive version, and price gouge on additional storage and RAM to build up their margins. I guess the RAM price increase made the margins on the $600 model too low for A…

I said “$600” in a comment about the Neo. You said “$600” twice here about other things. One thing is for sure, people consider that Apple hardware starts at $600. They are not raising prices. They are keeping them low (in marketing) to outcompete others like Microsoft (aka Valve). Gabe Newell worked at Microsoft for 15 years - people need to start considering Valve an extension of Microsoft. Their unofficial App Sto…

> Gabe Newell worked at Microsoft for 15 years - people need to start considering Valve an extension of Microsoft. Their unofficial App Store for games.

This is a really weird take, considering Valve's push into Linux.

Re: Apple is going to raise device prices, but when?

#53

Post by WhyNotHugo »

AnonC wrote: post #15

I think it would be uncharacteristic of Apple to raise prices anytime from now till new products are announced in September. It doesn’t match Apple’s brand image (like the author says). As pointed in another post by John Gruber, Apple kept selling the trash can Mac Pro for a very high price for years without any updates. So it can certainly afford to bear this pain for a couple of more months and bundle all the price…

Maybe that's why the 512GB RAM models are gone: they opt to pull a model without further announcement rather than increase its prices.

Re: Apple is going to raise device prices, but when?

#54

Post by wat10000 »

PaulHoule wrote: post #27
deltarholamda wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On some level the Neo is just a new chapter in the story of the original iBook. The difference between 1999 and now is the much stronger Apple brand, so people on the fence were quite ready to throw down with a $600 Mac.

Apple was on the ropes in 1999! Classic MacOS never had an entirely reliable network stack for browsing the web but hey, they had a GUI running in 128k of RAM in 1984. Not to say that macs didn't have their charms during the .com bubble but it wasn't until Mac OS X came out in 2001 that a mac was a purchase that made sense.

The iBook also started at over $3,000 adjusted for inflation ($1,599 in 1999).

Re: Apple is going to raise device prices, but when?

#55

Post by bgnn »

I have been buying an Asus laptop with Intel for our employees in the last 1.5 years, an ASUS ExpertBook P5 90NX0861-M007X0 to be precise, and it did not see even a cent of price increase.

I suspect this is because of its CPU, Intel Core Ultra 7 258V with 32GB RAM directly soldered on the CPU package, being overstock or something, or Intel secured the RAM supply upfront. I don't know but it's wild that this laptop is still early 2025 prices.

Re: Apple is going to raise device prices, but when?

#56

Post by netdevphoenix »

Octoth0rpe wrote: post #14
netdevphoenix wrote: post #7

This was inevitable. The better question is if AI related hardware costs drop after the AI bubble implodes, will Apple drop the prices? My answer is negative.

I think we might end up in a weirder situation: Apple _does_ drop their prices back down to current levels for the same quantity of ram, but ASP goes much higher, at least for the Pro tier buyers. My reasoning is that depending on how the benchmarks look, many of us may try to go big on ram on our next hardware purchases to run models locally as a way of hedging either model costs, or to ensure access.

Yep, this tracks. Open source models seem to be getting more and more attention.

Re: Apple is going to raise device prices, but when?

#57

Post by mathgeek »

AnonC wrote: post #15

I think it would be uncharacteristic of Apple to raise prices anytime from now till new products are announced in September. It doesn’t match Apple’s brand image (like the author says). As pointed in another post by John Gruber, Apple kept selling the trash can Mac Pro for a very high price for years without any updates. So it can certainly afford to bear this pain for a couple of more months and bundle all the price…

This sure seems like the Apple way to do it. "The old stuff is now more expensive" is a worse marketing announcement than "the new stuff is awesome, and with it comes a higher price just like most years".

Re: Apple is going to raise device prices, but when?

#58

Post by giancarlostoro »

WhyNotHugo wrote: post #53
AnonC wrote: post #15

I think it would be uncharacteristic of Apple to raise prices anytime from now till new products are announced in September. It doesn’t match Apple’s brand image (like the author says). As pointed in another post by John Gruber, Apple kept selling the trash can Mac Pro for a very high price for years without any updates. So it can certainly afford to bear this pain for a couple of more months and bundle all the price…

Maybe that's why the 512GB RAM models are gone: they opt to pull a model without further announcement rather than increase its prices.

It was probably two birds one stone: they could use that RAM for other more likely to be purchased models, and the loss from selling 512GB of "pre-RAM-AI-tax" costs would have been too high. They would have certainly sold those models though.

Re: Apple is going to raise device prices, but when?

#59

Post by Lalabadie »

WhyNotHugo wrote: post #53
AnonC wrote: post #15

I think it would be uncharacteristic of Apple to raise prices anytime from now till new products are announced in September. It doesn’t match Apple’s brand image (like the author says). As pointed in another post by John Gruber, Apple kept selling the trash can Mac Pro for a very high price for years without any updates. So it can certainly afford to bear this pain for a couple of more months and bundle all the price…

Maybe that's why the 512GB RAM models are gone: they opt to pull a model without further announcement rather than increase its prices.

It's also a financial optimization: Even with the very expensive RAM upgrade prices, it's way better to use the same memory chips to manufacture and sell four Mac Minis or two Mac Studios, rather than a single high-RAM unit.

Re: Apple is going to raise device prices, but when?

#60

Post by zaphoyd »

qurren wrote: post #47
freediddy wrote: post #43

They might add it as a surcharge the way Ubiquiti is doing it. I recently bought a bunch of stuff and it all comes with a memory or tariff surcharge that is annoying but it's hard to argue it. Also we know that it's coming soon, that's why Cook is running cover for the new CEO. They don't want the new CEO to be the one taking the fall on higher prices, so before September 1 will be my guess. Thank God I made the righ…

You can avoid the Ubitiquiti tariff surcharge and shipping fees if you buy via B&H. They don't stock all Ubiquiti products but they have most of the common stuff.

Unfortunately, a lot of B&H's Ubiquity stock has the memory surcharge built into the base price, so it can't avoided it just isn't labeled as obviously. Shipping, usually can be avoided. But also note that (annoyingly) UI curtails the warranty period on all gear purchased third party.
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