In addition to spec improvements, today’s announcements of the M6-powered iMac and 14-inch MacBook Pro came with additional good news: Prices remained unchanged from previous generations, unlike many other recent Apple product launches that brought another round of increases. Here are the details.
Prices unchanged, for a change
Today, Apple announced two new M6-based Macs, starting at the same prices as their predecessors.
And while both models benefit from the faster M6 chip, iMac buyers also get more CPU and GPU cores for the same price, as the base model now ships with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, compared to the 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU of the previous generation M4 chip.
As 9to5Mac readers likely recall, Apple raised prices on much of its product lineup in June, including the iMac, which went from $1,299 to $1,499, and the 14-inch MacBook Pro, which went from $1,699 to $1,999.
At the time, the company also increased prices for the HomePod mini, Apple TV 4K, and iPad mini, which saw the recently announced new versions come with yet another price increase.
The HomePod mini, which went from $99 to $129 in June, now costs $149 with the second-generation model. The Apple TV 4K, which previously started at $129, jumped to $199 in June, while the new generation starts at $299 (albeit with double the storage). And the iPad mini, which went from $499 to $599 in June, now starts at $699 with the OLED model announced earlier this week.
And while iPhone prices remained unchanged during the June increases, that changed in September with the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, which now start at $1,199 and $1,299 respectively, up $100 from their predecessors.
Apple also raised prices by $100 for older iPhone models still in its lineup, including the iPhone 17, iPhone Air and iPhone 17e.
With that in mind, even though the new M6-based Macs are far from cheap, it’s still good news that they haven’t come with another price increase on top of the June increases.
However, things look much less promising for those waiting for tomorrow’s OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro models Bloomberg reporting that Apple has discussed a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch model. If Apple applied the same alleged $400 markup to the current 16-inch model, which starts at $2,999, the new version could cost $3,399 or more.
That, in turn, makes Apple’s decision to keep prices unchanged for current M6-based Macs even more welcome, especially for buyers who already feared the possibility of having to shell out even more after waiting for the new models. Whether this will hold remains to be seen.
What are your thoughts on Apple’s pricing strategy for the M6 Macs announced today? Let us know in the comments.
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