The shortage situation is noteworthy because it’s rare when shopping for Apple products; generally, the company’s control of its supply chain means that if it wants to sell you something, it can do so on whatever terms it chooses. That’s mostly still true. So far, the chaos affecting Apple’s headless desktops is mostly not touching the rest of the lineup. Ship times for the vast majority of MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iMac models are mostly the same as they were a month ago, with a handful of basic configurations available for delivery the day after they’ve been ordered and typical-ish week-
Which Macs are suffering from shortages—and where are things getting worse?Apple bumped its prices across much of its product lineup today, in some cases adding hundreds of dollars to the cost of a new Macintosh. An entry-level MacBook Neo that cost $599 is now $699. The formerly $1,299 iMac will now be a $1,499 iMac. An M5 MacBook Pro that was $1,699 is now $1,999. …
… Companies are used to competing on price and features with $1,000-and-up Apple laptops like the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, but their $600 and $700 models usually come with cut corners and compromises that are more noticeable than the Neo’s. …
… Other small slips: MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Though most of Apple’s other computers remain readily available, there are a few places in the lineup where the supply constraints Cook mentioned seem to be taking a toll. …
… The basic version of Apple Intelligence will continue to work on all Apple Silicon Macs, including M1 devices and models like the MacBook Neo with just 8GB of RAM. But Apple’s more capable on-device models will require an M3 Mac or newer with at least 12GB of RAM. …
… Apple similarly discontinued the 256GB versions of the MacBook Air earlier this year when it introduced the new M5 models , but the company only increased the starting prices of those laptops by $100, rather than $200. …
… These first systems were externally almost indistinguishable from the PowerPC models they replaced, another strategy Apple recycled for the first Apple Silicon Macs—the implied message was “maybe these machines were different on the inside, but they’re still the Macs you know and love.” The first n… …
… I have the first beta of macOS 27 Golden Gate running on an M1 MacBook Air—the oldest, slowest hardware Apple supports now that Intel compatibility is out the window. …