WIRED has updated its MacBook buying guide for 2026, and the headline development is that Apple sharply raised the price of every MacBook and iPad on 25 June, despite the models themselves being unchanged. This is notable because Apple rarely increases prices outside of a product refresh, and the rises come only months after the cheaper MacBook Neo launched, making the timing especially unusual for buyers.

Apple attributes the increases to soaring memory and storage chip costs, blaming an "extraordinary surge in demand" driven by AI data centres, a shortage expected to last years rather than months. The new prices span the MacBook Neo at $699 (up 14%), the 13-inch and 15-inch Airs at $1,299 and $1,499, and the 14-inch and 16-inch Pros at $1,999 and $2,999, with rises ranging from $100 to $400. The guide also notes rumours of a high-end OLED touchscreen "MacBook Ultra" with an M6 chip later this year, and details Apple's current M5, M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the last offering up to 40 GPU cores.