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Microsoft Raises Prices for All Surface PCs, Making Them More Expensive Than Equivalent Macs

Microsoft has made some pretty odd decisions the last couple of years, including their Xbox division.
 
The schadenfreude hilarious. Do you really think Apple will sacrifice gross margins to keep the prices stable?
 
Seems odd Samsung and Microsoft raised prices after neo introduced. Maybe it was a strategic move to get Apple to raise prices also because they can’t compete since neo and Apple ram prices seem cheaper and worry about Apple market share
 
For eons, people complained about Apple devices having less RAM than the competition. I frequently pointed out that more RAM was not a good thing because it just causes software bloat. Developers are lazy! Apple stood strong on being very conservative in the RAM department, and made sure macOS and iOS ran really well in less memory.

(AI is a different story because loading models locally requires more RAM than typical)

Here we are... RAM has become a global crisis, and Apple products are well-positioned to run smoothly in less RAM by design.
 
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mblm85 said:
What a dumb move, Microsoft.
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Unfortunately it's today's Ai world. The data centers are eating up all ram, ssd etc plus, we have gone full capitalist where Maximum profits above all else. So, this is what you get. Don't worry however, the Apple price increases are coming soon as well. They are not immune, just delayed.
 
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With hardware components the more you order the cheaper it is, Microsoft doesn't sell as many hardware devices as Apple does, so they don't have room to negotiate on component cost compare to Apple.
 
rp2011 said:
Yikes. This is a red flag about the industry as a whole. Not just Windows and MS. Let’s hope things get better.

Apple is most definitely not immune.
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Nope. Ai should be removed from everything. It's burning billions of dollars of executives money and we will be the ones to have to pay it back. Increased costs everywhere in the tech sector is the result. Damn, that Linux setup is looking better and better. After my life settles down I may have to go that route.
 
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johkg said:
With hardware components the more you order the cheaper it is, Microsoft doesn't sell as many hardware devices as Apple does, so they don't have room to negotiate on component cost compare to Apple.
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The reason Apple has not had to increase prices yet is that they had more parts already purchased. Once that runs out (happening now btw) prices are going to have to go up so Timmy and friends can keep their profit margins.
 
Steve Adams said:
The reason Apple has not had to increase prices yet is that they had more parts already purchased. Once that runs out (happening now btw) prices are going to have to go up so Timmy and friends can keep their profit margins.
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Apple has already raised prices for new MBAir and M5 MBP.
 
johkg said:
Apple has already raised prices for new MBAir and M5 MBP.
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since release? that price increase is normal if they priced the new models more expensive than that last. Not what I am talking about. There will be an increase once they run out of their current supply of parts. We can see them starting to run out now as alot of high spec builds being cancelled because of no supply of ram and ssd chips.
 
I don't know about Microsoft's strategy around manufacturing, but both Apple and Dell benefit from negative cash conversion cycles with a lean, build-to-order model. This means you get the money up front from the customer when they place an order and can often benefit from the declining price of components between then and when you ship. Typically from first-hand experience of Dell manufacturing (I was program manager for the Demand/Supply Program in Europe) when component prices go up Dell would reduce the specification on the store (storage and memory mostly).
 
Here you go! Everyone is raising prices. The only way to get this under control is to “STOP BUYING”. there should be a coordinated effort to stop buying across the country.
 
Tar Sniffer said:
I was impressed with the MS Surface at first but now it’s constantly crashing, overheating and leaking a white residue from the keyboard. Then I was forced to download Windows 11…
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Well... we have to admit... Microsoft keeps millions of people busy: trying to keep existing machines running by reboots, constant updates or reinstalling. Not to mention desktop or laptops being replaced because Windows 10 or 11 made the previous machine obsolete (according to IT "consultants").
 
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jchap said:
You mentioned in a separate post that you use Claude "quite a lot".

Like I said, consumers (and businesses) have chosen AI, whether it be chatbots or automagical AI image editing or miraculous video generation for deepfakes, and the list goes on. I say "we" in a general sense.

Even if you are still using Google for web searches, likely you are often getting AI-generated results on top of the regular search results. Google has forced this choice upon users. The only way to combat this corporate behavior is to boycott the services.

As consumers, we have a say in what services we choose to support and pay for. We can support AI or not. Our choices will likely have an effect on the RAM market, and consequently the price of the Mac and PC hardware we enjoy so much.

At least, that was the gist of what I was trying to say.
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Boycotting is not likely to have any impact since those of us who understand the generalities of how the Internet and AI works are the vast minority of users and so the fraction of us who might boycott are truly an insignificant number of people. By "Quite a Lot" I mean that in my job at a tech company as an architect I use Claude almost constantly and it does provide a lot of value. However, only a fool would believe the people who say that these tools are not destined to replace most of us. I am fully aware of the fact that doing the exact same things one did on the Internet five or ten years ago today involves a lot of AI that people may or may not be aware of. The funny thing is that as the quantity has gone up the quality has taken a nose dive and hardware prices are skyrocketing as a result of the crap we are inundated with.
 
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Josie Belle said:
Between last years elimination of Movies and TV Shows from the Microsoft Store with no way to transition existing purchases anywhere else and the removal of the dictionary from Microsoft Word—other than my gaming-only rig—I have already transitioned everything else I do over to Linux or Mac. The second that Linux becomes a stable gaming platform, I'll officially be done with Microsoft for everything.
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I've been gaming on Linux via Steam+Proton for a couple years now. It works perfectly well. The only issue is MP games where the anticheat is looking for a locked-down Windows install. I don't really play those type of games anymore, so it's not a problem for me. Some MP games support Linux, and Steam makes them easier to identify. Been using Bazzite for the better part of a year, and it's very compatible.
 
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