The Fruity Cargo Cult Apple has just slapped a higher starting price on the Mac Mini, claiming it’s all AI’s fault.
The entry-level box now starts at $799 with 512 gigabytes of storage, after Job’s Mob quietly dropped the $599 model with 256 gigabytes.
Mac Minis have been shifting fast thanks to AI power users who want a private, “always-on” artificial-intelligence agent box, with outfits name-dropping things like OpenClaw. Job’s Mob’s site is already pushing new orders into early to mid-June delivery.
Apple supreme dalek Tim Cook said, “We think, looking forward, that the Mac Mini and the Mac Studio may take several months to reach supply-demand balance.”
Cook told investors the company cannot get enough chips to build what customers want, saying the March quarter pain was mostly iPhone, but the current quarter was whacking Mac sales harder.
AI demand is juicing Mac Mini sales while guzzling the same top-end silicon, and rival firms are grabbing a bigger share of the fastest chips from TSMC. That pinch is limiting Jobs’ Mob’s supply and slowing how quickly it can churn out iPhones.
Dropping the cheap storage tier is a familiar trick for making the sticker look good while the real price creeps up. The iPhone 17 Pro costs $100 more than last year’s Pro model but comes with more storage.
The Mac Mini and the pricier Mac Studio are little square desktops with no monitor or attached keyboard.
Job’s Mob is contending with soaring memory and storage prices too, with hyperscale data centres hoovering up components to feed their AI infrastructure.
In February, the company said it was working with Foxconn on a new Mac Mini assembly line in Houston to meet local demand.
An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on binning the lower-storage Mac Mini and pointed back to Cook’s earnings-call lines, leaving customers to enjoy fewer choices at a higher price.
