Do you think that Apple's next line of Macs will be proportionately more expensive?

[patearrings]

As the title really. With the huge success of the M1 chip and people being blown away by the performance (especially for the money spent), do you think Apple essentially underpriced this initial range of new macs and will therefore put in place a big price jump in the second generations we will be seeing later this year?

 

[kazmac]

Possibly. As far as iMacs, I can see Apple eliminating one model from each line up so that could inspire the upsell even more.

Of course, they could surprise us and continue to keep the prices where they are. That would be great, especially now.

 

[KPOM]

I think they will keep the prices the same. Macs already command a premium, and they will eventually get higher margins as they recoup their investments.

 

[Geepaw]

By getting rid of Intel fees and the Touch Bar, I suspect that the pricing for MBP to stay the same with similar profitability outlook as they upgrade features in other areas -- like the screen.

 

[JPack]

Not really, Apple already keeps the margins they were previously sending to Intel.

The iPhone SE tells you Apple doesn't mind selling high performance for a reasonable price. But they will get you with memory and storage upgrades. Given everything is soldered, consumers don't have a choice.

 

[pmiles]

But the new M1s weren't priced cheaper than existing equivalent models... they "appeared" cheaper. Appeared as in, RAM and SSDs soldered to the board (non-upgradeable), fewer ports, etc.

The next round will be more expensive because it is targeted as mid-range computing... not entry level. There is an Apple tax for upgradeability that doesn't exist in these new M1s. Since you were locked into whatever configuration it was, the tax wasn't applied like in prior models.

Trust me... Apple isn't looking to sell anything on the cheap... if it seems like a cheap price, it's because you neglected to notice what was missing.

 

[leman]

No, I think that the prices will largely stay the same or maybe even decrease slightly (especially on the higher end). Apple had it's pricing levels figured out long time ago, and if anything, they will become even more consistent. Right now Apple sometimes offers some expensive "extras" (like the 5600M option for the 16" MBP). I expect these extras to go away completely since Apple Silicon will be more standardized.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I don't think we will see a big price jump just because....

Apple is winning new customers with the M series. It would be foolish to raise the prices to try and gouge the customer even more.

 

[leman]

But the new M1s weren't priced cheaper than existing equivalent models... they "appeared" cheaper. Appeared as in, RAM and SSDs soldered to the board (non-upgradeable), fewer ports, etc.

They were priced identical to the models they have replaced. And next models will be priced similar to models they replace. E.g. I expect a 13"/14" MBP model with 4 ports this spring/summer to replace the $1799 Intel MBP.

 

[cupcakes2000]

But the new M1s weren't priced cheaper than existing equivalent models... they "appeared" cheaper. Appeared as in, RAM and SSDs soldered to the board (non-upgradeable), fewer ports, etc.

The next round will be more expensive because it is targeted as mid-range computing... not entry level. There is an Apple tax for upgradeability that doesn't exist in these new M1s. Since you were locked into whatever configuration it was, the tax wasn't applied like in prior models.

Trust me... Apple isn't looking to sell anything on the cheap... if it seems like a cheap price, it's because you neglected to notice what was missing.

MacBooks have had ram and ssds soldered to the board for ages before m1 came along. These newer models have either stayed the same in price or got cheaper. However the performance has dramatically leapt forwards.

And stop with the port thing- the models they replaced had the same port configuration. These are actually better as they have a tb controllers each instead of one split between two ports. The exception, the mini, I think it’s safe to assume it’s a new base model and along with the higher end macs soon to be released, will be a higher end mini.

Can you tell me what you think is missing that makes Apple cheap with these new lines?

 

[JPack]

The most important thing is, even with the higher performance, most consumers don't care.

Most consumers don't care iPhone has higher performance than Android. It's the user experience that counts.

That's why Apple added the Touch Bar and made the MacBook thinner even at the expense of the keyboard. Those are the things that allow Apple to charge more money. If the upcoming 14" and 16" models are significantly better in design, then you can expect a higher price.

 

[jz0309]

I think entry level pricing will stay the same, SSD upgrades will be similar, possibly reduced slightly as we've seen in the past ... RAM upgrades, if they become available, I expect them to be higher - it's a different form factor and it cannot be done during final assembly (that is an assumption on my part when looking at the M1 photos, I assume they will be done at the assembly for the M chip level which is most likely a different factory all together).

 

[velocityg4]

I think prices will pretty well stay about the same as the equivalent Intel models being replaced. As they make their own chips now. I wouldn't be shocked if they start doing with Macs as they do with iPhones. By continuing to sell the old generation at a reduced price when a new gen comes out.

Given that they have a $329 iPad and $499 iPhone. I wouldn't be totally surprised if in a generation or two they unleash a budget model. Who knows maybe sooner. Just think of a budget 12" Macbook with an iPad quality screen, A13 CPU or 4 efficiency core Mx CPU, 8GB RAM, 120GB SSD and one USB C port. All running macOS. It'd still be plenty fast for the average user, have a high profit margin and sell like hotcakes in the $500 to $600 bracket. That'd make Intel and MS mess their pants a little.

By getting macOS on ARM and making their own chip. They have a lot of flexibility. While maintaining profit. Which they did not have before.

 

[jerryk]

My guess prices will stay the same. Part of the reason Apple Silicon for Mac was created was to let Apple determine the prices and features. Owning the CPU, memory, GPU, and other SOC components let Apple hold their price down and still increase profit margins.

 

[LeeW]

I believe they will keep the price 'reasonable', they still need to convince a lot of users on ARM. I fully suspect though that iMacs will see the RAM soldered and be even less repairable than before.

 

[jterp7]

apple will price at apple reasonable levels. I recall bitching about the 2012 i have now when they boosted prices and guess what, they sold just fine lol. APM is another example of this. We can hope the price will stay close but we won't know until they are officially released. My bet tbh is if its a new body style it will go up a smidge.

 

[KPOM]

But the new M1s weren't priced cheaper than existing equivalent models... they "appeared" cheaper. Appeared as in, RAM and SSDs soldered to the board (non-upgradeable), fewer ports, etc.

The next round will be more expensive because it is targeted as mid-range computing... not entry level. There is an Apple tax for upgradeability that doesn't exist in these new M1s. Since you were locked into whatever configuration it was, the tax wasn't applied like in prior models.

Trust me... Apple isn't looking to sell anything on the cheap... if it seems like a cheap price, it's because you neglected to notice what was missing.

The new models are cheaper in that there is no more CPU upsell. They kept the price of the M1 MacBook Air the same as the previous dual-core i3 MacBook Air, not the i5 or i7 upgrades. Similarly, the price of the M1 MacBook Pro was the same as the i5 MacBook Pro, not the i7 upgrade. While the i7 upgrades were less common, quite a few reviewers recommended the i5 upgrade to the early 2020 Air.

 

[pshufd]

I think that they will leave the prices the same or drop them slightly as they will no longer have the Intel tax. I'm sure that Apple's Mac sales volumes are insane and they might take that to heart in that they can make a lot of money if prices are a little lower. They could lower their prices and still make the same margins.

It personally doesn't matter to me. I think that an M1X at twice the performance of the M1 is more than I will need for a long time. Three times would be insane for me and I can't imagine needing 4x. I don't think that Apple knows what their pricing will be. They need to see the yields of the various chips that they will be building.

 

[alex00100]

People always say there won't be a price hike and there always is

 

[thenewperson]

People always say there won't be a price hike and there always is

There wasn't with the first round. A thing that makes this more complicated is that they have more margin to play with this time around, especially on the higher end where they don't need to pay as much for Intel chips + AMD GPUs sometimes + Touch Bar sometimes.

 

[senttoschool]

I think what will likely happen is that the low-end will get cheaper in order to gain market share and the high end will get more expensive because M1X/M2X SoCs will wreck the competition.

 

[theSeb]

My mid 2012 rMBP with the top CPU was at least $2,799. (512 GB, 16 GB RAM). I think those specs were the base for the top CPU model, but I am too lazy to try and find the invoice and it was 8.5 years ago. The top of the line 16" right now costs the same price and comes with 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. So the price levels have mostly stayed the same for quite a long time. I don't expect Apple to increase prices.

Many people here predicted that M1 Macs would comes out at around the current model prices and that is exactly what happened. I have little reason to believe that the M1X models will not follow that trend.

 

[pshufd]

My mid 2012 rMBP with the top CPU was at least $2,799. (512 GB, 16 GB RAM). I think those specs were the base for the top CPU model, but I am too lazy to try and find the invoice and it was 8.5 years ago. The top of the line 16" right now costs the same price and comes with 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. So the price levels have mostly stayed the same for quite a long time. I don't expect Apple to increase prices.

Many people here predicted that M1 Macs would comes out at around the current model prices and that is exactly what happened. I have little reason to believe that the M1X models will not follow that trend.

My 2008 MBP 17 was $2,800 I think and it was the base model. Our 2007 MBP 15s were about $2,400 I think. So prices have gone down on the base models. A lot of components are cheaper too.

 

[leman]

My 2008 MBP 17 was $2,800 I think and it was the base model. Our 2007 MBP 15s were about $2,400 I think. So prices have gone down on the base models.

The base 15" has almost always been $2399. There was a brief period where Apple offered 15" without the dGPU for $1999 if I remember correctly, but that model was dropped in 2016.

A lot of components are cheaper too.

I don't know if that's this simple. Some stuff got more expensive, in particular CPUs (e.g. bulk pice for quad-core Ivy Bridge in the 2012 model started at $378, while for the hexa-core Coffee Lake in 2019 it's $395; the i9 is listed as a whopping $556). RAM also got more expensive on some models (LPDDR vs. DDR), there is additional cost of thunderbolt controllers and universal port wiring etc...

 

[pshufd]

The base 15" has almost always been $2399. There was a brief period where Apple offered 15" without the dGPU for $1999 if I remember correctly, but that model was dropped in 2016.

I don't know if that's this simple. Some stuff got more expensive, in particular CPUs (e.g. bulk pice for quad-core Ivy Bridge in the 2012 model started at $378, while for the hexa-core Coffee Lake in 2019 it's $395; the i9 is listed as a whopping $556). RAM also got more expensive on some models (LPDDR vs. DDR), there is additional cost of thunderbolt controllers and universal port wiring etc...

I think that our 2014 MBPs were less than $2,400. Maybe $2,200 or less. I recall paying less than $2,000 for them with the educational discount.

Yes, CPUs went up but RAM and Storage went down. You also had more logic in the CPU and motherboard.

The i9 is the biggest factor that I could see in getting the 16 price down. The GPU, second. It is possible that AMD might push Intel's prices down but I doubt it at this point. There are companies, including AAPL, where they would just stick with Intel.

I'm a big shareholder in AAPL and it's trading at $143 this morning. As a shareholder, I would prefer lower prices from AAPL as I think that this would increase shareholder value the most in the long run. More volume means more software and, eventually, more customers. I'm sure that Apple's marketing and finance people know this stuff and have models on price, demand, and software adoption.