Want to increase the amount of RAM in your 13-inch MacBook Pro via the online Apple store at the time of purchase? This is now going to cost you double than just a few days ago because Apple has quietly doubled the cost RAM upgrades for the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro.
As first spotted by MacRumors last Saturday, the price increase for RAM upgrades becomes evident when attempting to boost the RAM via the online Apple store at the time of purchase.
In the United States, the cost of doubling the RAM in the baseline $1,299 13-inch MacBook Pro model has gone up from $100 to $200. The price increase is live in other countries as well. In Germany, going from eight to sixteen gigabytes of RAM has doubled from €125 to €250. And in the United Kingdom, the cost of this RAM upgrade has doubled from £100 to £200.
Apple gave no public explanation for the move.
No matter how you look at it, it’s pretty unusual for the company to adjust RAM upgrade pricing for a computer that just arrived less than a month ago.
MacRumors editor-in-chief Eric Slivka commented:
The entry-level model is largely similar to its predecessor, using the same 8th-generation Intel chips and many other internal components have similarly been carried over.
Still, it is considered an updated model with changes like the new Magic Keyboard and it’s extremely rare for Apple to adjust pricing so soon after launch, suggesting an unexpected increase in Apple’s costs being passed along to consumers.
I don’t that think this is a case of Apple passing increased bill of materials (that new Magic Keyboard, faster chips and more flash storage certainly cost money) to consumers as much as it probably is about reacting to the RAM upgrade pricing increase by one of its suppliers due to the coronavirus situation that has disrupted global supply chains.