If you use a Mac or iPad to make music, upgrading your setup has become considerably more expensive.
Over the course of 2026, Apple has raised prices across a substantial part of its hardware lineup. Macs, MacBooks and iPads have all been affected, and in some cases we’re talking about increases of hundreds of pounds.
Then there are Apple’s RAM and storage upgrades, which can turn an already expensive computer or tablet into a very expensive one remarkably quickly.
There are legitimate reasons behind these increases. Global memory and storage supply problems have affected the entire technology industry, and Apple isn’t immune to those pressures.
Apple is also a publicly traded company with margins to maintain and shareholders expecting that famous line to continue heading upwards.
So I don’t think this is a case of Tim Cook and the gang rubbing their hands together before diving headfirst into a giant Scrooge McDuck-style pile of cash.
But whatever the reasons, we’re ultimately the ones paying the bill.
And for musicians and producers, I think Apple’s new pricing changes the buying equation considerably.
Apple hardware has become considerably more expensive
The first major round of increases arrived in June 2026, when Apple raised prices on products that were already on sale.
In the UK, the entry-level MacBook Air increased from £1,099 to £1,299. The MacBook Pro went from £1,699 to £1,999, while the M4 Mac mini jumped from £599 to £799.
Higher-end machines were hit even harder.
The M4 Max Mac Studio increased from £1,999 to £2,499, while the M3 Ultra Mac Studio went from £3,999 to an eye-watering £5,299.
iPad buyers weren’t spared either. The 11-inch iPad Air increased from £599 to £749, while the 13-inch model jumped from £699 to £949. The 11-inch iPad Pro went from £999 to £1,199.
These are UK prices, as that’s where I’m based, and the precise increases vary depending on where you live. But this isn’t exclusively a UK phenomenon. Apple’s pricing changes have affected customers in markets around the world.
One comparison in particular sums up the situation.
When Apple launched the redesigned M4 Mac mini in 2024, it started at just £599.
It was an extraordinary little computer for the money. You got an M4 processor, 16GB of unified memory and enough performance to comfortably handle the music-production requirements of a huge number of people.
Less than two years later, the entry-level M6 Mac mini starts at £899.
That’s a £300 difference, or a 50% increase in the entry price.
Of course, this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison (sorry) in terms of performance.
The M6 is substantially more powerful than the M4 and brings improvements elsewhere too. You’re getting a better computer for your £899.
The question for musicians is whether we actually need that additional performance.
That’s where things become much more interesting.
The arrival of a faster Mac doesn’t make the previous generation slower.
GarageBand hasn’t suddenly become unusable on an M2 Mac because an M6 exists. Neither has Logic Pro, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Pro Tools or any of the other major DAWs.
This is particularly relevant because Apple silicon Macs have been remarkably capable music-production machines from the beginning.
For many home-studio users, we’ve arguably reached a point where the performance available has moved significantly beyond what they actually require and if your current Mac can comfortably run your projects, plug-ins and virtual instruments, upgrading simply because another generation of Apple silicon has arrived becomes increasingly difficult to justify.
Then you start adding RAM and storage…
The headline price is only part of the problem.
Configure a Mac beyond Apple’s base specification and things can get expensive very quickly, which is especially important for musicians because RAM and storage are two areas where it’s tempting to upgrade.
Large sample libraries consume storage. More demanding projects and virtual instruments can benefit from additional memory and because modern Macs don’t allow you to upgrade either after purchase, you need to make that decision when you buy the machine.
That makes Apple’s upgrade pricing particularly painful.
You can easily add hundreds of pounds to the price of a Mac by increasing its unified memory and internal SSD capacity.
Personally, I’d prioritise RAM over Apple’s internal storage upgrades
If you genuinely need more memory, buy it when you configure the Mac.
Remember – you can’t plug an extra 16GB of unified memory into your Mac three years later.
Storage however is a little bit different.
Fast external SSDs are readily available and can be used for sample libraries, sound libraries, archived projects and other large files. I’d still want enough internal storage that using the Mac doesn’t become an exercise in constantly deleting things. But spending hundreds upgrading Apple’s internal SSD isn’t necessarily the best use of a limited home-studio budget.
The money saved could buy a substantial external SSD, an audio interface, microphone, monitors, headphones or software that actually changes what you can do in your studio.
Maybe we should stop automatically buying the newest Mac
I don’t think the conclusion from all of this is that musicians should abandon Apple.
Apple silicon Macs are so capable that older models are now one of the strongest arguments against buying Apple’s newest hardware.
An M2, M3 or M4 Mac or iPad hasn’t become obsolete because the M5 and M6 generations exists.
For many musicians, buying one of those older machines could provide all the performance they need while saving hundreds of pounds.
That brings us to the used market.
I’ve bought used Apple hardware myself, and there are some excellent deals available through marketplaces such as eBay. There is obviously more risk involved than walking into an Apple Store and buying a sealed machine, so I’d take a few precautions.
Check the seller’s history and feedback carefully. Don’t judge a listing solely on the headline price, and make sure you know the exact processor, RAM and storage configuration you’re buying. Check the battery condition and cycle count. If that information isn’t in the listing, ask for it.
I’d also want to be certain there are no Activation Lock or device-management issues attached to the machine.
Most importantly, keep the entire transaction on the marketplace you’re using. If someone offers you a discount for paying them directly, don’t do it.
If buying directly from another person makes you uncomfortable, refurbished hardware can provide a useful compromise.
Third party sites like Back Market sell Macs and iPads supplied by professional refurbishers, with buyer protections including warranty coverage and a returns period.
There’s also Apple’s own Certified Refurbished Store. Apple’s refurbished machines undergo functional testing and include a one-year warranty, making this probably the lowest-risk way to save some money compared with buying brand new. The discounts aren’t always as dramatic as you’ll find on eBay, but you’re trading some of that saving for additional reassurance.
How much Mac do you actually need for music production?
That’s ultimately the question Apple’s price increases have made much more important.
A few years ago, when a £599 M4 Mac mini offered that much performance for the money, recommending the latest model was easy. At today’s prices though, I’d spend considerably more time looking backwards.
What size are your typical projects? How many software instruments or Apps do you use? Are you running enormous orchestral sample libraries, or recording guitar and vocals into GarageBand? Do you actually need 32GB of memory? Do you need 2TB of internal storage, or could a 1TB external SSD handle your sample library?
And, crucially, what can the computer or tablet you’re using right now no longer do?
If you don’t have a good answer to that last question, you might not need a new Mac at all.