First it was the Mac mini. Then the Mac Studio. Now, the memory crisis is aiming to wipe out stock of yet another Mac, this one far more popular.
If you’re looking to buy a MacBook Air, it might be hard to find one before the end of August. As we saw with the Mac mini earlier this year, delivery estimates on Apple.com are beginning to show delays as Apple scrambles to get more stock.
As reported by Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter, the seemingly minor delay on Apple.com—orders are currently shipping with a two-week backlog—is indicative of a much larger issue caused by memory shortages. Gurman reports that Apple is scrambling to keep new MacBooks in stock during the back-to-school and upcoming holiday shopping seasons by sourcing RAM from China and “prominently steering customers toward the base MacBook Pro,” which starts at $1,999, several hundred dollars more than the $1,299 Air.
Upselling is a tactic Apple rarely deploys at its stores, and it could backfire. Apple has built a ton of trust with consumers over the years by largely letting buyers dictate the budget they want to spend, whether that means an iPad, iMac, or MacBook. Coupled with price hikes that are still fresh in people’s minds, steering consumers into higher-end products they don’t need could cross the line from sensible to sleazy.
Apple isn’t expected to update the MacBook Air with an M6 processor until spring 2027, though it’s unclear whether that will fix the issue. The M6 MacBook Air is expected to use the same LPDDR5X RAM as the current model, and there are no signs that the supply issues will ease before 2028. In its recent financial results conference call, Tim Cook reiterated that Apple is facing “a hundred-year flood on the memory pricing” and is “evaluating all options” to balance costs and supply.
On Monday morning, Amazon still had the 13-inch MacBook Air in stock for $1,243, about $50 less than the Apple Store, which was quoting an August 18-25 delivery window. Also reader David points out that Apple’s refurbished store has several in stock as well for $200 less than you’d pay for a new one. Apple refurbs come with a full 1-year warranty and go through a “rigorous” inspection process.
But whichever model you choose, you should probably act fast.
Michael Simon has been covering Apple for more than 20 years. He started covering rumors with Spymac when the iPod was the iWalk, and has owned nearly every iPhone Apple has ever made. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, son, and far too many gadgets.