Apple Price Hike: In a move that was somewhat bound to happen, the Cupertino-based tech giant Apple has increased the price across various products in India, and that includes the MacBook and iPad lineup. The thing to watch out for here is that some products are seeing an uptick of Rs 1 lakh. This is no surprise, as Apple's current CEO Tim Cook had already warned that a price hike was "unavoidable". The reason here is the burgeoning shortage of memory chips in the industry as a whole. The price rise is already up on the website in India, with multiple MacBooks having very high prices right now compared to what they cost when they were launched.
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This move has impacted both MacBook Air and MacBook Pro variants and Apple's latest budget laptop also, which is no longer budget-friendly and stands at Rs 79,900, a hike from its previous Rs 69,900 launch price, which means a jolt of Rs 10,000 straight. This latest offer by Apple was supposedly meant for students and first-time buyers, but with this price hike that might no longer be the case.
Apple's latest MacBook Air models have quietly become significantly more expensive in India as well. The 13-inch MacBook Air running on the M5 chip was originally introduced at Rs 119,900, but now its price has been hiked and is now listed at Rs 149,900, reflecting a price increase of Rs 30,000 within a relatively short period.
The larger 15-inch MacBook Air has also seen a substantial uptick in its price. After launching at Rs 144,900, the laptop is now priced at Rs 179,900, marking a jump of Rs 35,000.
But this is just the beginning, and one of the biggest increases, however, has been seen in Apple's MacBook Pro range. The entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 chip and 16GB of RAM debuted at Rs 169,900. It is now listed at Rs 239,900, a sharp Rs 70,000 increase that stands out as one of the most significant price hikes across Apple's recent product lineup in India. The most staggering price hike is with the M5 Max variant of the MacBook Pro 14-inch, which is up by Rs 1 lakh.
iPad Prices Also Touching the Sky
The 11-inch iPad, which runs on the M4 processor, will now cost you Rs 89,900, which was previously priced at Rs 64,900 when it was announced, which is a price hike of Rs 25,000. The iPad Pro has also joined the bandwagon and has become much more costly, with it now costing Rs 139,900, which was introduced at the price of Rs 99,900 last year, which is a staggering increase of Rs 39,910.
What Is The Main Reason?
Apple takes memory very seriously, as it forms a part of its product strategy, especially with its newer Macs and iPads, which are configured with higher base RAM and a unified memory architecture. Now as supply is choked due to increased outflow of chips to AI and data centres, it is putting strain on the company, due to which it has decided to increase the price and pass the burden to the end user.
We can see a bigger impact in our country as the products were already priced quite high, touching the premium tier, and an Rs 30,000-70,000 hike hits hard, especially for products that just got launched, like the Mac lineup. This is going to affect consumer sentiment region-wide and will change many decisions, especially for students and first-time buyers who were initially being attracted by Apple's budget-friendly range. This also sheds light on the ongoing market scenario as a whole, where other companies can also be expected to follow suit.
Price Breakdown
| Product | Launch Price | Current Price | Price Hike |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Budget Laptop | ₹69,900 | ₹79,900 | + ₹10,000 |
| 13-inch MacBook Air (M5) | ₹1,19,900 | ₹1,49,900 | + ₹30,000 |
| 15-inch MacBook Air (M5) | ₹1,44,900 | ₹1,79,900 | + ₹35,000 |
| 11-inch iPad (M4) | ₹64,900 | ₹89,900 | + ₹25,000 |
| iPad Pro | ₹99,990 | ₹1,39,900 | + ₹39,910 |
| 14-inch MacBook Pro (M5, 16GB) | ₹1,69,900 | ₹2,39,900 | + ₹70,000 |
| MacBook Pro M5 Max | ₹3,99,900 | ₹4,99,900 | + ₹1,00,000 |