Apple today doubled the price for upgrading the RAM on the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro, with customers in the United States now being charged $200 to move from 8GB to 16GB compared to the previous $100 upgrade price. Similar increases are seen in other countries, such as moving from €125 to €250 in Germany and from £100 to £200 in the United Kingdom.
Current pricing on RAM upgrade for entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro
While Apple does sometimes adjust upgrade pricing as its costs for components change over time, what makes today's change unusual beyond the fact that it is an increase rather than a typical decrease is that the 13-inch MacBook Pro just launched less than a month ago.
The entry-level model is largely similar to its predecessor, using the same 8th-generation Intel processors and many other internal components have similarly been carried over. Still, it is considered an updated model with changes like the new Magic Keyboard and it's extremely rare for Apple to adjust pricing so soon after launch, suggesting an unexpected increase in Apple's costs being passed along to consumers.
RAM upgrade pricing yesterday
Supply chains around the world have been disrupted in recent months due to the current health situation, but China, where most of Apple's manufacturing partners operate, has been reopening ahead of many other countries around the world as it was the first to shut down. So with pricing having been set on the 13-inch MacBook Pro just a month ago, the supply situation should generally have improved since then rather than worsened.
Apple does not appear to have altered pricing for RAM upgrades on its other Mac lineups, although different machines use different types of RAM, so a shortage or cost increase for one specific type would not necessarily affect all of Apple's Macs. Even the high-end 13-inch MacBook Pro is unaffected, as it uses a faster type of RAM paired with its newer 10th-generation Intel processors and upgrading from 16GB to 32GB remains priced at $400.
Update June 1: Apple has told The Verge that the change is a "price correction" which puts the $200 RAM upgrade on par with similar upgrades for other Macs like the iMac and MacBook Air.
Wednesday February 12, 2025 6:49 am PST by Joe Rossignol
As the wait continues for Apple's long-rumored, fourth-generation iPhone SE, French electronics retailer Boulanger has prematurely published a product listing for a "new" model of the iPhone SE. The placeholder page says the device is "coming soon," but it offers no further information, and the price shown is obviously not real.
The listing was spotted by a reader of the French technology...
Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week.
Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag.
The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle.
Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
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iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech
In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
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Apple today added MacBook Pro and Mac mini models with M4 series chips to its certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland for the first time since the computers were introduced in October 2024.
Some refurbished MacBook Pro models with M4 chips are also available in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and select other European countries.
...
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Apple this week began selling refurbished Mac mini models with the M4 chip for the first time, but this has led to a pricing conundrum.
In the United States, Apple is offering a refurbished Mac mini with the base M4 chip, 256GB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and Gigabit Ethernet for $509, down from $599 new. This is the standard 15% discount that Apple offers on refurbished Macs.
The issue is...
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Apple this month started advertising on X for the first time in more than a year. The company had stopped advertising on the social media platform in November 2023 following controversial remarks made by its owner Elon Musk.
For example, the @Apple account is running an ad promoting Safari's privacy features. The ad was spotted by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The @AppleTV account has a...
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Last year, Apple tweaked iPhone 16 Pro screen sizes to make them bigger than 2023's iPhone 15 Pro models, and this year we are also expecting a change in the size of the displays in the iPhone 17 lineup. Here's what we know.
Standard iPhone 17
Apple could introduce a new display size for the standard iPhone 17 model in 2025. The iPhone 17 could measure in at 6.3 inches, up from 6.1 inches,...
Friday February 14, 2025 3:41 am PST by Tim Hardwick
There have been several alleged leaked details of the iPhone 17 Air, Apple's rumored new slim iPhone, but images have been limited to grainy shots taken in component factories. However, this hyper-realistic concept created by WEIS Studio gives us the best idea yet of what Apple's thin device might actually look like.
The concept design is inspired by recent leaks indicating that the device...
"suggesting an unexpected increase in Apple's costs being passed along to consumers."
That is complete nonsense.
RAM prices have not moved, they want to maximize profit and adjusted due to price elasticity which they were able to evaluate after the first sales statistics.
"The contract prices of DDR4 8 Gigabit (Gb) DRAMs, which are used for personal computers (PCs), averaged US$3.29 as of the end of April, up 11.9 percent from US$2.94 in March, according to market research firm DRAMeXchange on May 4."
When things go up by 10%, Apple reads that as 100%.