The brand new MacBook Professional laptops are as a lot as $400 costlier than their predecessors. Thank the RAM scarcity.

Apple unveiled its newest slate of MacBook Air and MacBook Professional laptops on Tuesday morning, and within the case of the MacBook Professional, the brand new {hardware} comes with the announcement of recent M5 Professional and M5 Max chips.

The specs on the brand new chips are impressive, that includes an 18-core CPU that Apple says is over 4x the height GPU compute for AI in comparison with the earlier technology. However shoppers could also be shocked to see the value of the brand new MacBook Professional units, that are all between $100 and $400 costlier than their earlier fashions.

For the bottom MacBook Professional, which has an M5 Professional chip, costs begin at $2,199 for the 14-inch mannequin and $2,699 for the 16-inch fashions. That’s up from $1,999 and $2,499, respectively, for the M4 Professional variations launched final yr. The MacBook Professional fashions with the M5 Max chips begin at a whopping $3,599 and $3,899 for the 14-inch and 16-inch fashions, respectively. That’s a full $400 costlier than their predecesssors.

The value soar additionally impacts the brand new MacBook Air laptops. The 13-inch MacBook Air begins at $1,099, up from $999. The 15-inch MacBook Air begins at $1,299, additionally up $100 from final yr’s base mannequin.

With the calls for for extra computer systems and knowledge facilities to energy AI, the market is experiencing a scarcity of RAM, inflicting reminiscence costs to surge.

Analysts are already predicting that smartphone shipments will plummet this yr on account of the scarcity. Naturally, different {hardware} like laptops could be impacted, too, and Apple’s pricing might function a bellwether for a way a lot the sector shall be affected.