Apple today announced its global price hikes, which primarily target the Mac lineup, but also include the iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, and HomePods. While the increases may be global, they are certainly not being extended equally globally, with some markets like India being hit far more than others like the US.
There are three main factors to consider here. First of all, prices have been increased everywhere. Second, the prices of memory and storage upgrades have also been increased. And third, Apple India has changed its currency conversion rate so far, so the increase in India is no longer proportional to the US increase and this will impact all future prices as well.
Starting with the prices, here’s a quick look at what the starting prices are for all Mac models.
| Sample | Current Price (INR) | Previous Price(INR) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Neo (8/256GB) | 79,900 | 69,900 | 14.3% |
| MacBook Air 13 (16/512GB) | 149,900 | 119,900 | 25% |
| MacBook Pro 14 (16/1TB) | 239,900 | 189,900 | 26.3% |
| iMac (16/256GB) | 174,900 | 134,900 | 29.7% |
| Mac Mini (16/256GB) | 94,900 | 59,900 | 58.4% |
| Mac Studio (36/512GB) | 279,900 | 214,900 | 30.3% |
As you can see, the revised prices from old are significantly higher than Delta America’s; Whereas in the US most growth occurs in the teens and sometimes in the twenties, here almost all growth occurs in the twenties, many in the thirties, and some even higher. Also, these prices are only for the base model and configuration. The percentage delta becomes even higher when you start manually configuring with higher memory and storage options.
It’s important to note the price of the 256GB M4 Mac Mini. That model was discontinued last month, and the 512GB model became the starting price. With the price hike, the 256GB model is now back as the starting model, except the price is now significantly higher, even higher than the earlier 512GB model. We’ve seen others confused by this, and compared the prices of the previous base 512GB model and the current base 256GB model, but we can’t stress enough that the base model for the M4 Mac mini is now once again 256GB, not 512GB. And if you compare apples to apples, the 256GB M4 Mac Mini has seen a whopping 58.3% price hike compared to before.
There are other products also whose prices are increasing. iPads have an even bigger impact than Macs, and Apple TV 4K models cost nearly twice as much in some configurations. Even the aging HomePod models were not spared. The Vision Pro headset is not featured here, as it never went on sale in India.
| Sample | Current Price (INR) | Previous Price(INR) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPad Pro 11 (256GB) | 139,900 | 99,900 | 40% |
| iPad Air 11 (128GB) | 89,900 | 64,900 | 38.5% |
| iPad (128GB) | 49,900 | 34,900 | 43% |
| iPad Mini (128 GB) | 69,900 | 49,900 | 40% |
| Apple TV 4K (64GB) | 25,900 | 14,900 | 74% |
| homepod | 44,900 | 32,900 | 36.5% |
| homepod mini | 15,900 | 10,900 | 45.9% |
Now, for the second part of the equation. Apple has historically increased memory and storage prices by a multiple of Rs 20,000 for any upgrade made from its online store. They have now increased to multiples of Rs 24,000 for memory and storage, with higher storage options using multiples of Rs 30,000. So not only are you paying more upfront for the base model, but any upgrades you make will also cost more.
Finally, Apple has stopped using the currency conversion rate of 1 USD = 100 INR that it had for Indian prices for many years. If the US price was $699, the Indian price would be INR 69,990. However, the $699 MacBook Neo now costs Rs 79,900. This may be the more important part here, because even if current prices are reduced in the future depending on market conditions, it is unlikely that Apple will reverse the India currency conversion rate, so prices will never go back to before this increase.
This is the current state of Apple’s pricing. The company said in a statement to the media that “We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find a solution.” But given that it’s all about AI these days, this could be part of the problem it’s working tirelessly to find solutions to.