The RAM crisis should have made computers and smartphones more expensive.Apple has a different opinion

Apple is gearing up to eclipse Mobile World Congress.They did not participate in the Barcelona exhibition, but presented their products.Now iPhone 17e,...

Apple se ha propuesto eclipsar el Mobile World Congress. No acude a la feria de Barcelona, pero sí ha presentado productos. De momento, el iPhone 17e, los nuevos MacBook Pro con los procesadores M5 Pro y M5 Max, el nuevo MacBook Air M5 y la renovación de su monitor Studio Display. Y lo que más me ha llamado la atención es la "generosidad" de una Apple que no nos tiene acostumbrados a ello. Porque, con la que está cayendo con la crisis de la RAM y del precio de los SSD, Apple está ofreciendo más sin aumentar el precio.

And it's something with multiple readings...and a few asterisks.

New devices.There isn't much new in everything the company has come up with so far.A "cheaper" MacBook is believed to arrive by Wednesday, March 4, but what they've already offered is basically the same as last year, but with new processors.The iPhone 17e is a mobile phone with an older design, but it contains a slightly cut-down version of the iPhone 17 Pro processor.

The MacBook Pro is already a beast in many ways, but now it's available with the M5 Pro and M5 Max, which reach amazing numbers in GPU capacity and memory bandwidth in their most powerful versions. And while the MacBook Air is already a very interesting device for mobility, it's a bit more powerful. As I said, there's not much new on the storage front until you look at it.

From the fall... At the moment, no one knows that we are experiencing an unprecedented component crisis.This is not like 2020, when many factors caused the global chip crisis.Now there is only one "culprit" - artificial intelligence.There are three major memory companies (Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung), and all three have focused almost all of their production on AI memory.

This not only means that we have to pay more to be able to buy RAM or SSD for our computer, but that the manufacturers themselves are changing their plans to bring devices to the market - Steam Machine -, who are the ones who are selling laptops without RAM or without SSD, who are looking to the Chinese manufacturers to see if they can find a solution or, directly, those who can withdraw from the market.And in the middle of the hurricane, Apple introduces (which is not known for the popular price) a device.And the surprise arrived.

Generosity.I won't explain much, I will give some information:

- iPhone 17e starts with 256 GB of storage space and a price of 709 euros.iPhone 16e starts at 128 GB and costs 709 euros.

- MacBook Air M5 with 512 GB SSD costs 1,199 eurosThe MacBook Air M4 was the same at its launch at 1,199 euros (it was reduced by 100 euros to 1,099 euros in October last year), but with 256 GB.

Apple has doubled the price while maintaining the price of these devices. Not only that. The Studio Display XDR comes with a basic tilt-adjustable stand, but you can buy an articulated arm that allows you to adjust both the angle and the height. What's the support price? 999 euros became a meme. The new Studio Display XDR comes with its "Pro" stand.

Of course, the base MacBook Pro M5 costs an extra €100 with a 1TB SSD instead of 512GB.

Generosity?What's going on here is the first thing that comes to mind when you start analyzing prices.There are many options to match...and all at the same time.Since there is no company that provides it, you can have a massive 512 GB SSD installed as a base on your computer.This makes sense if we consider that expanding the memory of Apple devices is very expensive.

The most basic options will be the most chosen, so the ones with 128GB on mobile phones and 256/512 on MacBooks will be the best sellers and therefore have a surplus of extended options that fewer people will choose.Another reading could be that due to the high price of the devices, Apple has decided to absorb some of the cost of RAM since it's still worth it, making money per device sold and expanding the Mac user base at a time when Windows laptops may be having a hard time.

Apple keeps the charger on its new device.The MacBook Pro no longer includes a charger, but the MacBook Air did.Not now.

Queue.Another option is... our line.The prices I have detailed are in Euros and in Spain, if we consider the launch price, there are no additional offers or discounts.In America things are different.They also double the storage, but the MacBook Air costs $100 more than the previous generation in the 13- and 15-inch models.

This is always complicated because it's impossible to make a direct conversion from US prices to European prices (in fact, the MacBook Air M5 costs $1,099 and $1,299 compared to our €1,199 and €1,499), but we could be facing price increases for the 2027 models.

Because, unfortunately, the RAM crisis is going to last a long time.Intel thinks it's waiting the rest of the decade, NVIDIA doesn't have a good forecast either, and Samsung just said that if it happens, it'll start easing in 2027.

Pictures |Apple, Samsung

|Apple has been the industry's number one customer for decades, and AI is taking a backseat to it

See explanation 3.