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Either Apple cut a deal or accepted to eat the costs for a while.
Another possibility is that they raise prices in other areas.

For example, Target’s CCO talked on their earnings call about how they sell $3 Christmas ornaments. And they don’t want to increase the price to $3.60, because $3 ornaments is something that got people in the door. So he said they would increase the price of stockings and similar items instead. He also said they don’t want to increase the cost of their $5 tee shirts, so they might look into increasing the price of dresses.

I wouldn’t be surprised if subscriptions get a price hike soon.
 
Bought my M2 13" MBA in July 2022 for $1699 + tax. Today I tried to spec out a 1699 M4 MBA and couldn't since Apple seems to like $200 price increments for every option. M4/24 GB/512 TB is 1399, while M4/32 GB/1 TB is 1799. The base model at 999 is an excellent value/config, though having used the M4 Mac mini and iMac I'm hard pressed to tell the difference between those machines and mine. I'll admire the M4 from afar.

One other thing: the Sky Blue "tint" has been in use for the iPad Air and mini for a couple of product cycles. It's barely blue in the right light, otherwise it's gray. Just like the other tints. NBD.
 
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I need to check this out, thanks!
You’re welcome. The nano texture option is available on iPad Pro, MBP, iMac and the Studio Display. It’s an expensive option but could be worth it if like me you spend all day looking at your screen in a room with windows and ceiling lights.
 
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Let me tell you how old I am....my first laptop was a Zenith Data Systems machine that was given to me by my Dad after his employer finally gave him a new one. This was late 80's.
My wife had a TRS-80 Model 4p. The p was for portable. Yes, it weighed 26 pounds and had to be plugged in to operate, but it was luggable. For a mere $149.95, one could also buy a 300 baud modem expansion card.

trs80-4p-open.jpg
 
I'm obviously alone in not finding the color "beautiful" or "gorgeous"

All these muted "tints" are really not that attractive to me

So many of them look like "dirty silver"

I miss real, vibrant, color options
I like the sky blue for professional use, but my daughter would agree with you. She was just saying how she wants a MacBook in a hot pink color, like the color of her iPad. I think she has a point and that this would be a big seller. Same thing of course with a bright blue, purple/violet, etc.
 
New color is great, no longer RAM-anemic base model, M4, and starting at $999? Somebody pinch me… This is the definition of a good deal for what you get.
Exactly — we weren’t really looking to this release for innovation, but Apple put together an attractive, value-oriented package here. It’s actually quite a refreshing surprise after they yesterday tried to gouge us into oblivion with the extremely overpriced iPad Air keyboard case.
 
Its the chip swap we all knew it would be ... plus a Center Stage camera

And the continuation of horrendous component upgrade price gouging

View attachment 2488580
Well this is Apple and if they think that they can charge $200 for what costs them $20, they sure will.

The 15/512 option really is the sweet spot to go for for both sizes of the MBA right?

Anything north of that and you might as well start considering the MBP.
 
I for one, I am not sad to see the end of the Space Grey era. Long live Space Black umm, I mean Midnight?

At least one thing never changes - Apple having two very similar colours on different products that are almost nearly the same, but not.
 
Well this is Apple and if they think that they can charge $200 for what costs them $20, they sure will.

The 15/512 option really is the sweet spot to go for for both sizes of the MBA right?
I assume you mean 16/512 GB and not 15".

I think the best value is 16/256. It's less attractive price-wise at 16/512 IMO because of the steep US$200 upgrade price (or US$209 in Canada), although for many people 256 GB storage is not enough.
 
I'm obviously alone in not finding the color "beautiful" or "gorgeous"

All these muted "tints" are really not that attractive to me

So many of them look like "dirty silver"

I miss real, vibrant, color options

SkyBlue...nah, I didn’t like it.
I'm good with my M3 Midnight - still love it!
But I had to pay extra for 16GB.....

I’ll update the MBA around M7-10 - depending on when I also need to upgrade the Studio.
 
My wife had a TRS-80 Model 4p. The p was for portable. Yes, it weighed 26 pounds and had to be plugged in to operate, but it was luggable. For a mere $149.95, one could also buy a 300 baud modem expansion card.

trs80-4p-open.jpg

I was pretty young, but my Dad brought home a TRS-80 Model 100. That thing was awesome - it had BASIC in ROM and I'd write simple games with it.
 
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Another possibility is that they raise prices in other areas.

For example, Target’s CCO talked on their earnings call about how they sell $3 Christmas ornaments. And they don’t want to increase the price to $3.60, because $3 ornaments is something that got people in the door. So he said they would increase the price of stockings and similar items instead. He also said they don’t want to increase the cost of their $5 tee shirts, so they might look into increasing the price of dresses.

I wouldn’t be surprised if subscriptions get a price hike soon.

If you simply look at any add-on, that's where the extra margin already is.
It's been discussed here that the RAM (or storage) upgrades probably cost 5-20$ for Apple, maybe a bit more logistics-wise to have enough supply everywhere. But the bottom line stays the same, they might make 400$ (that's really a random number I just picked) on the base model, and 150$ for every upgrade.
If you look at prices over time, comparing last year's price of maxed out RAM MBA (it was 24 GB with 2 levels of extra RAM) and this year's price of maxed out RAM MBA (32 GB, also with 2 levels of extra RAM), the final price is 100CAD more in Canada (so probably 50 USD, but I don't keep track of it so I'm not sure). We can still consider it a better deal (more chip power, more RAM) but in terms of cost and margin it's probably actually a better deal for Apple, not for consumers.
 
#humblebrag

I’m trading in my M1 MBP 16/512 for $445 credit!

They used my registered device to auto-enter the trade-in info, however, they mislabeled the machine as 1TB even though they have correct S/N, so I’m getting $100 more.

Just to check, I manually entered the info, answering questions like year, storage, and condition, and it calculated only $345 for my model.

Reminds me of getting the Community Chest card “Bank Error in Your Favor. Collect $100.”
 
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Ouch

I do (honestly) feel bad for 8GB Ram folks who got rugged by Apple

It was "totally fine and more than enough" .... until suddenly everything had to be "Built for Apple Intelligence"

it's not a problem at all. I help a company here in Norway with their Mac fleet of computers, and they have about 50 M1 MacBook Airs with 8gb of RAM. These are still as good as they were when bought in 2021.

In fact, they're slightly better since Microsoft Teams uses way less resources now than earlier versions.

Also in my own (extended) family and my girlfriend's family, over half the members use MacBooks with 8Gb of RAM. Some of them even Intel models.
 
it's not a problem at all. I help a company here in Norway with their Mac fleet of computers, and they have about 50 M1 MacBook Airs with 8gb of RAM. These are still as good as they were when bought in 2021.

In fact, they're slightly better since Microsoft Teams uses way less resources now than earlier versions.

Also in my own (extended) family and my girlfriend's family, over half the members use MacBooks with 8Gb of RAM. Some of them even Intel models.
I agree, 8 GB is fine for now and likely the next several years for light usage.

However, the current lineup (and even the M2/M3 lineup of the last few months) has pushed down resale values of 8 GB models, and also pushed down pricing of third party refurb / open box 8 GB models. So it's a slight "problem" for some people in terms of resale values, etc.

I've been following the pricing rather closely (at least in Canada), and that's what I've seen. However, I've avoided buying because I was unsure what would happen with the M4 release. I'm glad I waited. Even though prices of 8 GB and M2/M3 models seemed decent a few months ago, all of a sudden they don't seem so decent given the new pricing structure for M4 16/256.
 
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Happy to see a new colour. Will have to check it out in store before placing an order. Good to see the Air finally getting the M4 update.
 
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I assume you mean 16/512 GB and not 15".

I think the best value is 16/256. It's less attractive price-wise at 16/512 IMO because of the steep US$200 upgrade price (or US$209 in Canada), although for many people 256 GB storage is not enough.
On the 13” the upgrade to 512 on the ssd is the best bang for the buck, you also get the full 10 cores on gpu.
 
Dude, nobody is "hating". We're having a discussion around the product and disagreement with the state of the product and Apple's decisions doesn't equate to "hate".

But some of you have been doing this for 10 years or more.

How about just deal with the world how it is, and not how you wished it to be?
 
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