Apple doubles – Apple’s latest price hikes across Mac and iPad products have made MacBook Pro RAM and SSD upgrades look even more punishing. Configuration screenshots show Apple effectively doubling RAM upgrade costs and dramatically raising SSD upgrade pricing—leaving buyers
A MacBook Pro buyer shouldn’t need a calculator just to figure out how expensive “more memory” has become. But in Apple’s latest upgrade pricing, that math is turning into something harder to defend.
Apple recently raised prices across its Mac and iPad lineup, along with other products, citing rising memory and storage costs. The company’s explanation leans on a supply crunch that’s pushing those components higher. Still. the emotional reaction among buyers is sharper because Mac upgrades were already priced at a premium—long before the latest jump.
MacBook Pro configuration screenshots shared by 9to5Mac show how steep the upgrade path has become. In one MacBook Pro setup, 48GB of unified memory is included as standard. Before the price hike, upgrading that system to 64GB—or adding 16GB of additional memory—cost $200. Moving to 128GB—or adding 80GB of additional memory—cost $1,000. After the change, the same upgrades are listed at $400 and $2,000, respectively.
Apple has effectively doubled those MacBook Pro memory upgrade prices.
The increase lands badly because Apple’s upgrade ladder was already difficult to justify. Notebookcheck reported that Apple charges $200 for an 8GB RAM upgrade, while the estimated market price is around $120. A 16GB upgrade costs $400, compared with roughly $185 on the open market.
The same disconnect shows up with storage. Apple charges $1,200 for a 4TB SSD upgrade, while comparable SSDs are listed at around $459. Apple’s hardware approach complicates direct comparison: the company uses soldered unified memory and integrated storage rather than standard removable parts. But that difference cuts both ways—because it also means buyers can’t simply wait. swap. and fix the decision later.
For customers, there isn’t an easy workaround. You either pay Apple’s higher prices upfront or stick with the base configuration for the life of the machine. With RAM and SSD prices continuing to climb. Apple’s already expensive upgrade path is now starting to look absurd to anyone who needs more headroom.
The sequence is hard to miss: Apple points to real component pressure, but the pricing step-up hits customers who were already paying far above comparable market hardware. And because the design locks in memory and storage, the cost isn’t just a line item—it’s a long-term commitment.
Apple MacBook Pro RAM upgrades SSD upgrades unified memory pricing iPad price hike supply crunch cybersecurity digital trends
So they’re charging like double just to add RAM? Lmao.
I didn’t even realize you *could* upgrade RAM/SSD on MacBooks anymore, thought it was basically stuck. Guess Apple found another way to get you after the sale. Supply crunch my butt.
Wait if it’s soldered unified memory, then why are they even calling it an upgrade like you can just pick it later? They basically trap you with “options.” Also $200 to go up 16GB?? That sounds like they’re pricing it like cloud storage or something.
Apple will say “rising memory and storage costs” but it feels like they just keep raising prices because people will still pay. I saw a comment somewhere that the SSD chips are cheaper now? But then they charge $1200 for a 4TB upgrade which is insane. I’m not buying a Mac upgrade again, I’ll just buy the cheapest one and “hope” it lasts… right?