Apple increases MacBook prices across the board

Apple on Tuesday launched new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models with its latest M5 chips, along with an updated Studio Display line, in its biggest Mac update in more than a year.

The push gives Apple a new opportunity to revive Mac demand while also making a broader argument that more AI work will move to the device itself, not just to the cloud.

The announcements come at a critical time for Apple’s Mac business, whose sales fell nearly 7% to $8.39 billion during the Christmas quarter, well below analyst expectations of nearly $9 billion. These new machines are meant to get people to upgrade, especially users who still have older Intel-era systems or early M-series devices.

But they also come at higher prices, as a more limited memory supply drives up costs as vendors prefer the more lucrative AI data center market to consumer hardware.

The MacBook Air now starts at $1,099 for the 13-inch model (was $999) and $1,299 for the 15-inch (was $1,199), and Apple doubles the base storage to 512GB.

The MacBook Pro also gets more expensive, 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 help justify the higher prices, Apple raised the starting storage floor on the Pro line, with M5 Pro models now starting at 1TB and M5 Max models starting at 2TB.

But the most important thing is performance. Apple is positioning the M5 Pro and M5 Max as a real step forward for heavier workloads, especially AI.

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

This is critical to Apple’s attempt to make the Mac a more credible platform for running advanced AI tools locally, an increasingly important capability for businesses that want to keep sensitive data off cloud servers.

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

The base model starts at $1,599, while the high-end Studio Display XDR starts at $3,299 and adds features aimed at more demanding professional use cases, including higher brightness, mini-LED backlighting, and a faster refresh rate.

That makes Tuesday’s launch a clear departure from the more value-focused products Apple unveiled on Monday, including an updated version of its low-cost iPhone.

However, the broader strategy appears unchanged: give customers a stronger reason to upgrade across multiple price tiers without weakening the premium tier.

It also keeps attention on what may still happen on Wednesday.

If Apple introduces the rumored lower-cost MacBook, that would be the clearest sign yet that this week is about expanding the line in both directions, looking to retain high-end buyers while also reaching first-time Mac customers, those switching from Windows and Chromebook, along with iPhone users who have never owned a Mac.