Apple Declares It’s Keeping Prices the Same Despite the RAM Apocalypse
Apple Declares It’s Keeping Prices the Same Despite the RAM Apocalypse
https://gizmodo.com/apple-declares-its-keeping-prices-the-same-despite-the-ram-apocalypse-2000728338
Publish Date: 2026-03-02 13:10:00
Source Domain: gizmodo.com
Apple is winning with its latest gadgets over the competition by doing the bare minimum. On Monday, the tech giant dropped its first details about its new iPhone 17e and iPad Air with M4. One thing about both announcements stuck out—mostly because Apple rarely remarks on price. Each new device was “the same starting price” as last year’s model.
The iPhone 17e starts at $600, the same as last year’s iPhone 16e. This time, it comes with more base storage—256GB instead of 128GB. It packs in a few extra upgrades as well, including MagSafe charging and improved wireless and cellular connectivity. The M4 iPad Air has an upgraded chipset and improved connectivity chips for the same $600 starting price as the 11-inch M3 version (it’s $800 for the 13-inch iPad Air). It has the same starting 128GB storage and 12GB of unified memory.
While the inclusion of MagSafe on the iPhone 17e is very welcome, it’s the additional base storage for the same price that was truly unexpected. © Apple
In any other year, these relatively minor refreshes would feel more blasé. The iPhone 17e still has relatively large screen bezels, a 60Hz refresh rate screen, and a camera notch rather than the newer Dynamic Island. However, with the cost of memory and flash storage spiking across the board, tech companies have largely inflated prices of their gear. Laptops especially took a hit. I’ve seen devices from Dell, MSI, and more companies besides drive up prices compared to previous laptop models from past years. Apple is making it clear it’s not changing its pricing structure just yet despite the ballooning cost of DRAM (dynamic random access memory) and SSDs (solid state drives).
When you compare the iPhone 17e to Google’s latest midrange phone, the difference is even more striking. Gizmodo went hands-on with Google’s Pixel 10a last month and found the only real difference compared to the Pixel 9a was the reduced camera bump. The Pixel 10a uses the…
