Here’s how much the MacBook Pro costs in 2021 compared to 2021. 2026

Five years is a long time in the MacBook world. Each generation of Apple laptops usually comes with new features and specifications that are better than the MacBooks that came before it, like faster processors and more memory. Still, even with these additions, the starting price of MacBooks doesn’t tend to vary much from year to year.

But we no longer live in normal times. Electronics costs continue to rise aggressively thanks to AI data centers gobbling up supply chains for essential PC parts like memory, storage and GPUs. Apple itself was no longer able to absorb the effects of the component shortage and announced steep price increases for a wide range of products earlier this year, including its entire MacBook Pro line.

So it’s worth keeping that context in mind when we look at the differences between buying a MacBook Pro in 2021 and buying one in 2026. Since they come in a variety of configurations that can significantly affect the price you pay for them, we’ll just look at the prices of entry-level laptops from each respective year.

In 2021, Apple was just beginning to use its custom silicon after abandoning the use of AMD GPUs and Intel CPUs in its laptops. At the time, the company launched a slightly larger MacBook Pro line, equipped with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips.

Here’s what entry-level models cost in 2021:

• 14-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro: $1,999
• 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro: $2,499

But due to inflation rates in the United States, the purchasing power of $2,000 in 2021 is not the same as the purchasing power of $2,000 today. So, when adjusted to these prices, the 14-inch M1 Pro laptop would cost around $2,467 in 2026, and the 16-inch would cost $3,084.

If we weren’t in the middle of RAMaggedon, the prices of today’s MacBook Pros would have aligned quite favorably with the 2021 list. These sport the latest versions of Apple’s chips – the M5, M5 Pro and M5 Max – which are a major improvement in graphics and processing performance over five-year-old laptops. They’re also much better at running games than the M1 series ever was.

Here’s what the entry-level 2026 MacBook Pro models cost and how much they cost before the price hike:

• 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5: $1,999 (was $1,699)
• 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro: $2,999 (was $2,699)

Before getting the extra $300, the current 14-inch MacBook Pro was actually cheaper than the 2021 14-inch. One thing to note is that today’s entry-level model has the base M5 chip, while the older laptop had the Pro version of the M1. That’s not a big deal given the progress the M series has made since 2021, but it shows a slight change in Apple’s strategy compared to five years ago.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro, meanwhile, was previously a bit more expensive than the 2021 version’s price increase, but it now costs $500 more, bringing it much closer to the inflation-adjusted price. While this laptop was already a considerable investment to begin with, the $3,000 price tag might make some people think twice about whether they really need the extra screen real estate and power of the M5 Pro.

AI-driven price increases undermine what otherwise would have been modest cost differences between the 2021 and 2026 MacBook Pros. Unfortunately, we may have to live with the memory shortage and its repercussions for at least the next few years, which most likely means we’ll also see eye-popping prices on the next generation of MacBook Pros.