The Apple community was rocked this week as the company instituted massive price hikes on a broad array of products, with many products seeing increases of 10–20 percent and a few as high as 50 percent or more. The move led many Apple fans to flock to Amazon and other retailers in attempts to make purchases before the price increases trickle down to third-party sellers.
Other major news this week included a recap of the numerous products in Apple's pipeline rumored for release over the next 12–18 months, a second round of developer betas for iOS 27 and other updates, changes to Apple's chip roadmap, and more, so read on below for all of the details!
Top Stories
Apple Just Increased Prices on MacBooks, iPads, and More
After Tim Cook signaled last week that Apple hardware price increases were "unavoidable" in the face of high memory and storage costs from suppliers, Apple this week followed through with a slew of major price increases across its Mac and iPad lineups, as well as on HomePod, HomePod mini, Apple TV, and Vision Pro.
Apple explained that the company has "never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly," and while Apple held off on raising prices for as long as possible, the situation has become dire enough that it feels it needs to pass the increases along to customers. Apple says that it is "working tirelessly to find solutions," but memory suppliers forecast that shortages and high prices will last well into 2027.
Apple's price increases have largely yet to trickle down to third-party retailers and buyers are quickly snapping up whatever stock Amazon and others have left at the cheaper prices, so if you're interested in making a purchase, it would be wise to act quickly.
Apple to Release These 20 New Products Across Rest of 2026 and 2027
Apple's cadence of product updates has been slowed due to impacts from delays to the more advanced Siri as well as component shortages, so that means the pipeline of upcoming products is remarkably full at the moment.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman this week recapped a list of around 20 new products we should be seeing through the remainder of 2026 and into 2027. The list includes updates to much of Apple's current product lineup, plus some new products like the foldable iPhone, a high-end touchscreen MacBook, camera-equipped AirPods, a smart home hub, and smart glasses.
Everything New in iOS 27 Beta 2
Apple this week rolled out a second round of developer betas for iOS 27 and related updates, and the new iOS 27 beta includes a few changes as Apple continues to build out the update ahead of an expected September public release.
A new "Write with Siri" button in several first-party apps makes it easier to locate the tools that allow Siri to assist you with writing, while there are improvements to RCS messaging, tweaks to the Camera and Wallet apps, the ability to update an Apple TV from the Home app on iPhone, and more.
2027 Macs to Get AI-Focused M7 Chips as Apple Skips High-End M6
A significant shakeup for Apple's chip roadmap is underway, according to Bloomberg, with Apple cutting higher-end chips from the upcoming M6 family as the company seeks to speed up development of the M7 family to deliver greater AI optimizations.
It sounds like we'll only be getting a base M6 chip from that family later this year in some lower-end Macs, with Apple quickly moving on to an M7 chip in the first half of 2027. Higher-end chips in the M7 family will follow later in 2027.
Apple's highly anticipated OLED touchscreen "MacBook Ultra," will reportedly use the current M5 Pro and M5 chips that debuted in the MacBook Pro earlier this year, despite the fact that the new laptop won't arrive until late this year or even early next year.
Apple Explains Why watchOS 27 Drops Support for So Many Models
Amid some consternation from users, Apple has explained why five Apple Watch models will miss out on watchOS 27 and the new Siri AI features that come with it.
The Apple Watch Series 6, 7, 8, SE 2, and the original Apple Watch Ultra will not receive watchOS 27, and will only get basic security updates going forward. With the update, Apple is effectively dropping three years' worth of device support in a single software update, which is unprecedented for the product line.
Speaking to TechRadar, Apple executives explained that the company wanted to use watchOS 27 to make the Apple Watch a "true co-partner to Apple Intelligence," and that required some sacrifices in supported models for the update. Only the last few generations of Apple Watch include the processing power to be able to adequately deliver the new features both on a standalone basis and in interfacing with a paired iPhone for heavier workloads with Siri AI.
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Article Link: Top Stories: Massive Apple Price Increases, iOS 27 Beta 2, and More
