On 25 June 2026, Apple's UK store went offline briefly and came back with higher prices already loaded. No announcement. No new hardware. No email to customers. Just higher numbers across almost the entire Mac and iPad range, effective immediately.
If you were already looking at a refurbished MacBook or iPad, the maths just shifted sharply in your favour.
What Actually Changed — and by How Much
The scale of the increases is wide. Mac prices rose by £100 to £1,300 depending on the model, and iPads went up by £100 to £200 — for the exact same hardware that was on sale the day before. As Hoxton Macs put it bluntly: same chips, same memory, same storage — Apple added nothing in return.
The most painful single increase sits at the top of the range: the M3 Ultra Mac Studio jumped by £1,300, a rise of 32.5%. But the one that stings most for ordinary buyers is arguably the MacBook Neo. The Neo now starts at £699, up from £599 — a £100 rise on a laptop that was barely three months old and existed specifically to be Apple's most affordable option.
At the other end, the iPad Air — Apple's volume seller and the go-to recommendation for most buyers — is now £150 to £200 more expensive depending on which screen size you pick. The entry iPad and iPad mini both jumped by around a fifth in percentage terms, making the smaller, cheaper iPads among the hardest hit proportionally.
Why Did Apple Do This Now?
The short answer is memory. DRAM prices rose by roughly 98% in the first quarter of 2026, driven by AI data centres consuming global chip supply at an extraordinary rate. Apple absorbed the cost for several quarters before concluding the situation was unsustainable. Tim Cook described the component squeeze as unprecedented in over 40 years.
Crucially, this isn't expected to be short-lived. Gartner forecasts no meaningful relief until late 2027, and new memory factory capacity isn't expected to come online until 2027 at the earliest. Apple rarely reverses a price move once it has made one. Treat these as the new floor, not a temporary blip.
Worth noting: iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods were not affected in this round. However, analysts widely expect iPhone prices to rise when the iPhone 18 launches in autumn 2026, so the window of unchanged iPhone pricing may also be closing.
What the Refurbished Market Looks Like Now
Here's the practical effect for anyone shopping right now. Apple's new prices are the anchor for the entire market — but refurbished stock was priced against the old RRP, not the new one. That gap is real money.
Which? and Hoxton Macs both flagged the refurbished market as the immediate beneficiary of the price hikes — and the logic is straightforward. A well-tested, refurbished M2 or M3 MacBook Air was already significantly cheaper than a new one. Against Apple's new prices, that saving is now even larger.
As an illustration of the kind of gap that can open up: one analysis found a 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Max available refurbished for around £3,245 against Apple's new price of £4,399 — a difference of over £1,100 for functionally the same machine. Not every model will show a gap that dramatic, but the direction is consistent across the range.
What to Look For: Refurbished MacBook and iPad Buying Guide
Not all refurbished is equal. Here's what matters when you're spending serious money:
- Grade matters. A 'Grade A' or 'Excellent' device should have minimal cosmetic wear and a fully functional battery. Ask for the battery cycle count if it isn't listed.
- Check the chip generation. An M1 MacBook Air still handles everyday tasks — documents, browsing, video calls — without breaking a sweat. You don't need M5 to replace an ageing Intel machine.
- Verify compatibility. If you're buying an iPad, confirm it supports the current iPadOS and, if it matters to you, the Apple Pencil generation you already own.
- Warranty is non-negotiable. Any reputable refurbisher backs their stock with at least a 12-month warranty. If there's no warranty on the listing, walk away.
- Check who verified it. Third-party diagnostic verification — such as PhoneCheck — gives you an objective record of the device's condition, not just the seller's word.
You can browse a range of professionally refurbished laptops, including MacBooks, in our refurbished laptops collection — all tested, graded, and sold with warranty.
The MacBook Neo Question
The Neo's price rise deserves its own paragraph because it changes the buying decision for the most price-sensitive part of Apple's market. At £599, the Neo made a reasonable case for itself as a cheap-and-cheerful MacOS entry point. At £699, you can find refurbished M2 MacBook Air models at a comparable or lower price — and the Air gives you more memory, MagSafe charging, a backlit keyboard, and Thunderbolt ports that the Neo omits. The Neo's value proposition has narrowed considerably. The refurbished Air's has widened.
If you've been searching for the best refurbished laptops under £700, the current market has options that would have cost considerably more at new prices six months ago.
Got an Older Mac or iPad Sitting Around?
Apple's price hikes affect the buying side of the equation, but they have an indirect effect on used values too. When new prices rise steeply, demand for second-hand devices typically follows — which means used MacBooks and iPads are likely to hold value better in the coming months than they would in a stable market.
If you have an older MacBook, iPad, or other Apple device you're no longer using, now is a reasonable time to move it on. Tech4Cash buys used devices directly — we'll give you a quote, collect from your door across the North East and Manchester, and pay you on the spot. Get a quote to sell your device here.
The Refurbished Case Has Never Been Stronger
Apple's June 2026 price rises didn't change what the hardware does. A refurbished MacBook Air from 2022 or 2023 runs the same applications today as it did before the announcement. What changed is that the gap between refurbished and new got significantly wider overnight — and forecasters suggest it won't close for years.
If you were on the fence about going refurbished, you now have a clearer answer. If you were already leaning that way, the numbers have moved in your direction.
Take a look at our full refurbished Apple and tech stock — everything is tested, graded, and comes with warranty. No new-price surprises.
