Apple raised the starting price of its Mac Mini desktop to $799 from $599, adjusting to inventory shortages driven by AI demand and the tight supply of processors.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company is effectively increasing the price by removing the entry-level configuration, a model that includes an M4 processor and 256GB of storage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The computer now starts with that same chip and 512GB of space. The $1,399 starting price of the M4 Pro model hasn\u2019t changed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The discontinuation of the $599 tier comes after that model sold out at most outlets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time of publication, the 256GB model was still available in South Africa from several retailers, including Takealot, where it was priced at R12,909.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other configurations still take weeks or months to arrive from Apple\u2019s online store and have been in limited supply at the company\u2019s retail stores.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Thursday, Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook said the shortages were tied in part to the so-called SoC, or system on a chip, the processor that serves as the brain of the Mac Mini.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe constraints were primarily driven by the availability of the advanced nodes our SoCs are produced on,\u201d he said on an earnings call with analysts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other factor is that consumers have been snapping up Mac Minis and Mac Studios to run artificial intelligence, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese are amazing platforms for AI and agentic tools, and the customer recognition of that is happening faster than what we had predicted, and so we saw higher than expected demand,\u201d Cook said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that the MacBook Neo, which also starts at $599, is seeing stronger-than-anticipated demand.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cook said that it \u201cmay take several months to reach supply-demand balance\u201d for the Mac Mini and Mac Studio.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n