Glad I spec’d my M4 MBA with 32gb/1Tb as I doubt I’ll be upgrading any time soon at this rate. The world’s gone mad.
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MacBook Air Experiencing 'Major' Shortage Despite $200 Price Increase
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I’ve never been in favour of Apple manufacturing their own gear, and given these shortages and price increases, there could be enormous upside for them to invest in manufacturing their own memory. The technical aspects change less frequently than chips such as CPUs, they could practically supply themselves at cost if they wanted and would deal with a long history of expensive RAM/storage upgrades.
Somebody’s lying!! If this was the case retailers such as Amazon and Bestbuy would not be running deep discounts.
I wonder if Apple can’t just pay a hefty rate to TMSC and various RAM manufacturers and basically just say:
‘Hey build a new facility exclusively for us and we’ll sign a contract to buy 100% of its output for 5-10 years.
& oh here’s some investment cash to get it going from our huge cash pile…
(…which we were holding back to invest in creating Ariana Grande iMessage stickers, but you can use it to make chips instead) /s)’.
Obviously new facilities can’t magically come online in days though.
‘Hey build a new facility exclusively for us and we’ll sign a contract to buy 100% of its output for 5-10 years.
& oh here’s some investment cash to get it going from our huge cash pile…
(…which we were holding back to invest in creating Ariana Grande iMessage stickers, but you can use it to make chips instead) /s)’.
Obviously new facilities can’t magically come online in days though.
I'm as wary as anyone of the irrational economic behaviors that a system like Klarna can elicit from people who can't afford a product. But a universal statement like "People should save" doesn't work for everyone. I just looked at a low-end MacBook Air lease. A 36-month lease through Klarna is only $25/month. That's a pretty good deal for someone who can handle $25/month extra in their budget, needs a computer today, and doesn't want to wait 4.3 years to save up $1300 at a $25/month rate.
The average minimum wage in the US is $9.57/hour according to Google. $25 @ 9.57/hour takes approximately 2.6 hours to earn. That would be easy for a college kid (a primary customer for the MacBook Air) with a part-time job to handle.
As an aside, delivery was 2-3 weeks for the MacBook Air. That's not too bad. A kid going off to college could have it before classes start.
Another aside, note the branding on the lease option. It is the "Apple Upgrade" program with Klarna mentioned in regular size type. This is what you would expect from the Klarna deal. Everything looks like it is going through Apple. You won't realize that customer service goes through Klarna until you have a problem later.
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You might be onto something there.
A $200 price hike is easier to stomach when you’re doing finance.
Although it’s worrying that companies might start leaning more on financing options like Klarna to try and get away with continuing to jack up prices. 🙁
Blackstick
macrumors 68000
A whopping 60-70% (depending on the source checked) of the new BMWs and Lexus vehicles you see in this country are leased. Americans are very used to leasing luxury.
I’ll keep my M5 Air as long as I can. It even replaced my Windows desktop. I bought it as soon as Tim 🍎 announced the price hikes. Wouldn’t have thought they’d implement them so quickly but thanks for the warning at least.
What you are describing is almost a textbook business-school case study. Namely, does it make sense to invest tens of billions to vertically integrate the production of a commodity during the peak of a pricing cycle?
Apple can afford it with the great numbers they put up. That seems simple. The question is whether it is a good investment.
Building a memory fab costs on the order of $10 to $30 billion. It takes between 3 and 5 years before production begins. Apple would have to acquire or build expertise in memory design, semiconductor process engineering, manufacturing, yield optimization, and fab operations. They would probably start by licensing memory designs from others.
Whether it is good investment hinges on supply-and-demand dynamics and timing. The current high demand and consequent high prices for memory are due to the bubble in AI investment fueling the build-out of hyper scale datacenters. In response, memory manufacturers are already shifting production and expanding capacity. By the time Apple could be producing its own memory in 3-5 years, supply will likely catch up with demand.
This isn't hypothetical. The memory industry has historically gone through boom-and-bust cycles. As recently as 2023, memory was selling below the cost of production.
It really does not make sense for Apple to risk tens of billions of dollars at peak pricing only to start producing their own memory as prices collapse. This is exactly the kind of capital-allocation problems that every business school uses as a case study. In fact, where I went to school, this was the first case study in microeconomics. Google "Molybdenum case study Columbia Business School" for the details. It might take some thought to see it, but this really is an almost identical problem.
If you are leasing for 36 months, you are only paying approximately 70% of the total purchase price. So, that $200 hits more like $140. And that means only $3.89 more per month on your payment–less than the price of a tall Latte at Starbucks.
insomniac86
macrumors 6502a
About a year ago I bought a 2TB M.2 stick for £100 - which was about the going rate.
Today, typical prices for a 2TB M.2 stick are £250-£300.
That's a 150-200% increase.
Apple has raised prices by 20%...
I'm not applauding them since they're making money hand over fist & could have chosen to take a bigger cut in their (considerable) profit margins - but they're certainly not out-greeding their competitors.
iMac The Knife
macrumors 68000
My wife has a couple of aftermarket parts she could sell, but I'd never let her do it. 🤣
iMac The Knife
macrumors 68000
I'm sure we will have to agree to disagree on this one, but I think leasing a MacBook Air for three years is absolutely bonkers. This is how it all starts. $25 a month here, $50 a month there...and before you know it some people will be underwater and they will default. Trust me, it is coming. I do understand that no one is forcing anyone to lease a computer or phone. But still, leasing a computer for three years is insane to me.
capamac
macrumors 6502a
adrianlondon
macrumors 604
It's easy to have a major shortage of anything if you simply decide to not make enough.
klasma
macrumors G4
Availability will likely become better in that time frame, prices certainly not.
Its because back to school shopping is in full effect. If you need a new laptop, you're going to buy one now, not wait until after school has started.