Apple has announced a new update to the MacBook Pro series, featuring the addition of an OLED touchscreen and PROLED XDR technology. Despite the innovation in the display, the most prominent headline of this launch is the high price of the top-tier version, which reaches a cost of $14,549.
What drives the price up to this level?
The significant price increase is not solely due to the new screen, but is primarily concentrated in memory and storage options. The 16TB storage unit contributes $7,000 to the total price, while the upgrade to 128GB of unified memory adds an additional $2,000. Consequently, memory and storage alone account for approximately 62% of the device's total cost.
Why does this news matter?
This pricing reflects a broader crisis in the tech components sector; reports have indicated a sharp rise in the prices of DRAM and NAND Flash memory during 2026. Apple attributes these increases to the massive demand from artificial intelligence data centers, which has led to a supply shortage and increased component costs that companies are forced to pass on to the end consumer.
Considerations for professional users
This device targets specific categories such as filmmakers and AI developers who need to run large language models (LLMs) locally, where 128GB of memory is essential for this type of task. However, for most professionals, the more logical choice may be to settle for lower internal storage capacity (2 or 4TB) and rely on fast external drives using Thunderbolt 5 technology, given that the very high cost of internal storage does not offer added value commensurate with its exorbitant price.
It is worth noting that Apple has restricted high memory options (128GB) to be available only with the 40-core M5 Max chip, forcing users to purchase the most expensive processor available to access the maximum memory capacity.