Apple increases MacBook prices across the board

apple announced Tuesday new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models powered by the latest M5 chip, as well as an updated Studio Display lineup, in its biggest Mac refresh in more than a year.

The push gives Apple a new chance to revive demand for Macs, while also making a broader case that more AI efforts will move to the devices themselves, not just the cloud.

The announcement comes at a critical time for Apple’s Mac business, where holiday quarter sales fell nearly 7% to $8.39 billion, well below analysts’ expectations of nearly $9 billion. These new machines are aimed at getting people to upgrade, especially those still using older Intel-era systems or early M-series devices.

But tight memory supplies are driving up costs and prices as suppliers favor the lucrative AI data center market over consumer hardware.

The MacBook Air currently starts at $1,099 (up from $999) for the 13-inch model and $1,299 (up from $1,199) for the 15-inch model, and Apple has doubled the base storage to 512GB.

MacBook Pro prices have increased as well, with the 14-inch M5 Pro starting at $2,199 and the 16-inch M5 Max at $3,899, $400 more than its predecessor.

To justify the price increase, Apple increased the minimum price for storage in its Pro line, with M5 Pro models starting at 1TB and M5 Max models starting at 2TB.

But more important is performance. Apple is positioning the M5 Pro and M5 Max as a true step-up for heavier workloads, especially AI.

The company says the new MacBook Pro can process large language model prompts nearly four times faster than comparable M4-based machines and up to eight times faster than M1 models, without sacrificing battery life.

This is central to Apple’s efforts to make the Mac a more reliable platform for running advanced AI tools locally, and an increasingly important feature for businesses looking to keep sensitive data away from cloud servers.

Apple has also updated its display lineup, replacing the aging Pro Display XDR with the new two-tier Studio Display family.

Prices start at $1,599 for the base model, while the high-end Studio Display XDR starts at $3,299 and adds features aimed at more demanding professional use cases, including high brightness, mini-LED backlighting, and fast refresh rates.

That makes Tuesday’s launch a clear shift from the more value-oriented products Apple announced Monday, including refreshed versions of its low-cost iPhones.

However, the broader strategy appears unchanged. The idea is to give customers a strong reason to upgrade at multiple price points without diluting the premium tier.

It will also be interesting to see what happens on Wednesday.

If Apple unveils its rumored low-cost MacBook, it would be the clearest sign yet that Apple is expanding its lineup in both directions this week, trying to retain high-end buyers while reaching first-time Mac buyers, Windows and Chromebook switchers, and even iPhone users who have never owned a Mac.