Apple’s upcoming Mac desktops may cost more, but not for the reason you might think

Apple’s upcoming Mac desktops may cost more, but not for the reason you might think

https://9to5mac.com/2026/03/07/apple-m5-mac-mini-mac-studio-imac-might-get-more-expensive/

Publish Date: 2026-03-07 18:25:00

Source Domain: 9to5mac.com

This week, Apple unveiled a plethora of new Macs with M5 chips – and it revealed an interesting new trend. More base storage, but at slightly higher prices. This impacted the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

At the moment, M4 versions of the Mac mini, Mac Studio, and iMac still remain with their old pricing lineup – but that’s likely to change with the M5 lineup.

This weeks adjustments

With M5 MacBook Air, Apple raised the base storage from 256GB to 512GB – coupled with a $100 price increase.

This is great for a lot of people, since you previously had to pay $200 to get that level of storage. Essentially, the MacBook Air got cheaper if you already would’ve paid for 512GB of storage.

A similar price adjustment came to the base 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5. It went up by $100, but it now comes with 1TB of storage as the standard. Sure, it costs more than it did prior at a baseline, but if you previously bought 1TB of storage, it became more favorable.

Things differed slightly with the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros. Those got 1TB of storage by default, but at a $200 price increase. So, you’re effectively just paying for the additional storage, with no real added value.

What’s next

Apple’s desktop lineup hasn’t yet been touched, but we’ll most definitely see the same adjustments with future models. I’m slightly surprised they haven’t done it yet, but it’s likely not too far away.

With the next versions of Mac mini, iMac, and Mac Studio, we’ll probably see similar price shifts:

• iMac: $1299 → $1399 with 512GB as the new standard
• Mac mini: $599 → $699 with 512GB as the new standard
• Mac Studio: $1999 → at least $2199 with 1TB as the new standard

For the Mac mini and iMac, I won’t necessarily take issue with the price adjustment. 256GB of storage is honestly a joke in 2026, so if you’re someone who already paid for more storage, it actually becomes a better value for you….

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