Last week, I noted that Apple revealed that it would raise prices for its products because of the memory chip shortage. I had hoped that this would not begin until this fall, but it began yesterday. Hartley Charlton of MacRumors notes all of the price changes. The price of the iPad Air went up $150; the iPad Pro went up $200; the already expensive Vision Pro went up $200 to $3,699; and the Mac Studio (M3 Ultra) went up $1,300 from $3,999 to $5,299. In other words, virtually every Apple product saw price increases of 15% to 25% except for the iPhone and Apple Watch—and I’m sure those price increases are coming soon, although perhaps Apple will wait until new models are announced in September. As John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes, if you “purchased a MacBook Neo for $600 (or $500 with education discount),” you may have purchased “the lowest-price MacBook they will ever sell.” Gruber also wrote an interesting post that notes the price changes as a percentage of the price. One of the biggest price increases was for the Apple TV. Why is that? David Sparks of MacSparky has a good theory: Apple is planning to update the Apple TV soon, and they want to raise the price now so that the replacement model can debut at that same price. Of course, Apple is not alone in raising prices because of the RAM shortages. For example, I saw that XBOX prices are going up well. And as Jay Peters of The Verge notes, it’s a bad time to want a new computer. Fortunately, you still have a chance to save money on some products if you take advantage of the Prime Day sales I noted earlier this week. And now, the rest of the news of note:
- In an article for Above the Law, Stephen Embry discusses the impact that Apple Intelligence in iOS 27 will have on lawyers. The article includes some thoughts on the topic that Brett Burney and I shared with Embry as he was writing this article. Lawyers already have access to other impressive AI tools that are vastly improving our ability to represent our clients, but I think that Siri AI and the improvements to Apple Intelligence will definitely be a part of this story for lawyers in just a few months.
- Oliver Haslam of AppleInsider argues that Apple should not have raised the price of the MacBook Neo because the price is the main feature of that device. I understand his point, but since it looks like the entire industry is raising prices, I suspect that the MacBook Neo will remain a good value.
- Hartley Charlton of MacRumors notes that iiOS 27 and the other system updates coming later this year will include five new apps: Siri AI, Apple TV Remote, Find My on the Apple Watch, Pass Designer on the Mac, and Claris FileMaker Go for the iPhone and iPad.
- Another change in the updates, as noted by Dan Moren of Six Colors, is updated icons for most apps, and the Basic Apple Guy website shows examples. It’s a subtle change, but I like it.
- I like how the Apple Health app can offer insights on your health based on the data in the app. Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac notes that Apple’s Wallet app in iOS 27 will provide similar financial insights.
- Jason Snell of Six Colors explains why the Shortcuts app in iOS 27 and the other upcoming operating systems will allow you to realize the automation dream: the ability to just tell your device what you want to create and have it created.
- Speaking of Snell, after 38 years, Snell just wrote his last column for Macworld. In it, he provides an excellent overview of Apple’s last two eras under Steve Jobs and Tim Cook and previews Apple’s next era under John Ternus.
- Michael D.J. Eisenberg of The Tech Savvy Lawyer explains how Android devices can now more easily use AirDrop to share files with iPhones.
- Glenn Fleishman of Six Colors explains how to download maps on your iPhone—and why you might want to do so.
- Todd Spangler of Variety reported on remarks made by Apple executive Eddy Cue as he accepted an award from the Cannes Lions festival. Cue discussed the early days of Apple TV, why Apple TV had had so many hits, and more.
- Will Shanklin of Engadget recommends 10 underrated Apple Watch tips.
- Max Eddy of the New York Times recommends several security settings on the iPhone that you should consider enabling.
- If you want to stream a movie at the best possible quality, and if you are watching it by yourself, the Vision Pro often provides the best possible experience. This is especially true for movies created with the best possible digital quality, and it is especially true on Disney+, which offers some of the highest quality for digital streaming. As discussed in this Reddit thread, the Avatar movies are the very best, and the latest in the series—Fire and Ash—is now available to stream on Disney+. The stream size of the 3D movie is over 32GB, and with all of that information streamed to a Vision Pro, you get something that can look incredible with Ultra HD, HDR, high frame rate, and all of the other buzzwords. I was on a plane yesterday, and I started watching the movie on my Vision Pro. It was perhaps the most amazing visuals in a movie that I have ever seen, and I was watching this ON A PLANE, of all places. Hard to believe. Of course, the audio is always better in a big theater with amazing speakers, but thanks to the high-quality OLED screens of the Vision Pro, the image quality on the Vision Pro is as good as it gets.
- Speaking of Reddit, an interesting Reddit post by Hamster-Humble lists all of the shows released on Apple TV in 2026. Looking at this list reminds me of so many shows that I have enjoyed this year: Tehran, Hijack, Shrinking, For All Mankind, Star City, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, and Widow’s Bay. And there are others on that list that I haven’t watched yet, but that I’m thinking of starting.
- And finally, here is a new video from Apple showing how the Apple Watch has made an impact on professional surfing.