5 Apple Products You Can Skip After Price Hike

Apple has increased the prices of several of its products due to the memory crisis that has affected the sector in recent years. As manufacturers focus on selling chips to companies making AI servers, customers have faced rising prices for almost all technology products. Apple is one of the latest companies to raise prices, making many of its products a bad deal to upgrade, not only because they’ve gotten more expensive, but also because some of them are overdue for a long-overdue overhaul. Among the products customers should avoid after the price hike are the Apple Vision Pro, HomePod mini, and Apple TV 4K.

Even though iPhones still cost the same in the United States, Apple has increased the price in different markets, such as Europe. According to an email I received from the International Data Corporation (IDC), Apple will likely raise iPhone prices by 11% this year, as the company prepares the new iPhone 18 Pro line and an all-new foldable iPhone.

Nabila Popal, senior director of data and analytics at IDC, says the company made the announcement now in order to psychologically prepare customers for even higher prices without affecting sales of new products. With several devices seeing significant price increases, like the Mac Studio, and rumors suggesting new products could be available soon, here are some of the Apple products you should skip to save money, but also because they’re simply not worth it anymore.

First released in 2024, Apple Vision Pro is a controversial Apple product. After all, the company has been trying to break into the mixed reality market that many companies are struggling with. While previous reports suggested that the Apple CEO’s ultimate goal would be to launch true AR glasses, the Vision Pro seemed like a good first step toward that goal. However, with a bulky design, poor connected battery performance, lack of developer support, and a high price, this mixed reality headset instantly became a failure.

Reports suggested that Apple focused on a cheaper, lighter version, which was ultimately canceled or postponed, and when the company released an M5 iteration in 2025, not only did Apple not properly fix the first generation’s problems, but it also continued to offer the exact same product with a slightly faster processor. Now, with rising prices, what already seemed like a bad idea from the customer’s perspective is even less appealing, with a price increase of at least $200.

On top of that, visionOS 27 shows that Apple isn’t putting much effort into the platform, as aside from Apple Intelligence improvements, there are few to no features available on the mixed reality headset. If Apple continues to neglect Vision Pro, it will soon impact developers who are still betting on the platform, and those who have not published their applications there and may never do so.

Introduced in late 2022, the third-generation Apple TV 4K is one of my favorite Apple products, partly because I’m so involved in the Apple ecosystem. It’s the best way to supercharge a smart TV and projector, and it also adds the benefits customers know and love, like AirDropping and AirPlaying content, access to Apple services like Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and my go-to Apple Fitness+ (which I use for yoga sessions). Additionally, this set-top box offers Apple Music Sing, a fun karaoke-like experience to enjoy with friends at parties.

While buying a third-generation Apple TV 4K in 2026 isn’t the best deal, as rumors suggest a new model is coming soon, Apple just gave another big reason for customers to avoid it, as the company nearly doubled the price of the set-top box from $129 to $199 (and that’s not even for the Ethernet model). That said, purchasing a device that is not only four years old but has significantly increased in price is not worth the investment for most customers.

Still, the worst news could come soon, as the wait for a new model could indicate that another price increase could be imminent. If Apple adds a more powerful chip and more RAM, which is mandatory for Apple Intelligence features, then a future set-top box from the company could exceed $200, making it impractical for someone who just wants to give their current TV a boost.

The most powerful Mac currently sold by Apple is the Mac Studio with the M3 Ultra chip. With recent news from Bloomberg suggesting that Apple is reshaping its processor release schedule due to the memory crisis, the company is still expected to release a refreshed Mac Studio with the M5 Max and M5 Ultra processors, but it’s unclear whether or not users should be happy with this upcoming product.

After all, over the past few months, Apple has quietly discontinued several configurations of the Mac mini and Mac Studio. Although it initially seemed that new models were coming soon, it is now clear that the company did so due to a memory crisis and that selling these configurations was no longer worth it. Yet with the recent price hike, the M3 Ultra configuration has become $1,000 more expensive, as it starts at $5,299, and it can cost up to $14,299 (although, truth be told, most of the price is tied to the 16TB of unified storage).

With the Mac Studio being much more expensive, the upcoming M5 Max and M5 Ultra models could see another price hike as the new processors can handle increased memory configurations. That said, if you’re considering upgrading your workstation, it’s best to wait until prices are more stable, as new models will likely cost significantly more and the latest Mac Studio is already very expensive. Either way, buying the best computer from Apple will be very, very expensive.

If you needed another reason to avoid the HomePod mini, Apple just gave it: a price increase. The already overpriced $99 Apple Mini Speaker is now $129. First released in 2020, this device uses the Apple Watch S5 chip, released seven years ago. However, what makes it even more ironic is that even the newest Apple Watches, which all have a better processor, are still the same price. So we wonder: why did a 2020 product using an obsolete processor see its price increase?

Most likely, Apple is paving the way for the upcoming HomePod mini 2, which is rumored to have Apple Intelligence support. Right now, Apple’s AI requires an iPhone or Mac chip, which means that device could benefit from a huge internal upgrade, or the company will perform technical fixes, such as maintaining the old chip and moving Apple Intelligence processing to a nearby iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Whatever the answer, it appears that customers are now responsible for footing the bill for Google’s partnership for a better Siri, as this improved experience also requires better hardware with newer processors and greater RAM availability. Even though the price of HomePod 2 has also increased, the product at least offers better sound quality. For the HomePod mini, it’s not even worth a discount anymore, because the device is aging and its sound quality is not up to par with its current competitors.

Buying the iPad 11 right now may be a very bad deal for most customers. Apple raised prices by $100, making this $349 product $449. Even though the company released it with 128GB of storage – more than enough for most people – it still has an older processor and doesn’t support Apple Intelligence. Since the rest of the lineup is already capable of AI features, this more expensive tablet just isn’t worth it, especially since the company will now continue to focus solely on AI.

On top of that, there’s a lot of anticipation for the next iPad 12 model. Still scheduled for this year, it’s unclear whether Apple might opt ​​for another price increase, as the current price of $449 already seems “ideal” for a newer tablet with an A18 or A19 chip and at least 8GB of RAM. That said, customers wanting a budget iPad should wait until this new model gets the latest features, but also because the A16 chip is starting to show its age on Apple’s most basic tablet.

Fortunately, what hasn’t changed are Apple accessories, since the Magic Keyboard Folio and Apple Pencil USB-C still remain the same price. Even though buying a full-fledged iPad has become more expensive, so has buying a Mac, and Apple’s budget MacBook Neo no longer looks so cheap, since it now starts at $699, up from $599.