Apple has raised the base price of the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, but it has not increased the cost of RAM upgrades. The company rolled out its latest M5 models with higher starting prices, although it also adjusted storage configurations to balance the change. As a result, buyers now pay more upfront, yet they get more storage by default, while memory upgrade pricing stays exactly the same.
The new MacBook Air with the M5 chip now starts at $1099, which is $100 higher than the previous M4 model that began at $999. At the same time, Apple doubled the base storage from 256 GB to 512 GB, so customers receive more storage without paying extra for an upgrade. On paper, that makes the comparison closer if you look at similar storage levels, but the entry price has still increased.
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According to the company’s official pricing details, the same pattern applies to the MacBook Pro lineup. The 14 inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro chip now starts at $2199, up from $1999 for the earlier M4 Pro version. However, Apple raised the starting storage from 512 GB to 1 TB, which offsets part of the $200 increase.
Base price changes and storage upgrades
Here is how the new base models compare:
- MacBook Air M5 starts at $1099 with 512 GB storage
- Previous MacBook Air M4 started at $999 with 256 GB storage
- 14 inch MacBook Pro M5 Pro starts at $2199 with 1 TB storage
- Previous 14 inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro started at $1999 with 512 GB storage
RAM upgrade pricing stays the same
Apple kept RAM upgrade pricing unchanged across the new models. For example:
- Upgrading from 24 GB to 48 GB on the 14 inch model costs $400
- Moving from 48 GB to 64 GB costs $200 more
- Upgrading to 128 GB costs $1000 more
These prices match the previous generation exactly, and higher memory options remain limited to higher end CPU configurations.
Overall, Apple increased base prices by $100 to $200, but it balanced that move by doubling entry storage and holding RAM upgrade costs steady. Buyers who planned to upgrade storage will see less impact, while memory pricing remains consistent despite broader component cost increases in the PC market.
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