“Events, dear boy, events.” I’m not sure who said this — some dusty old politician, I think — but Tim Cook may have been thinking something similar when he raised prices on some of Apple’s most popular products yesterday.
For years, Apple has managed to sell devices that were somehow both expensive and good value — sure, you could buy rival products for less, but MacBooks and iPads were so well built, and lasted so long, that many considered the extra cost to be justified. But those days may be at an end, with the global RAM crisis forcing the tech giant’s hand. Apple devices may still be good value in the future, but they’ll be less good value than they were.
How'd you like them Apples? “The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge,” Apple told us yesterday following the news that it was raising prices on Macs, iPads and assorted other devices. “The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage.”
So yes, here we go again: the AI boom is directly increasing the cost of your tech, regardless of whether you care a jot about ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or indeed Apple’s own stilted attempts to get in on the game. But hey, at least it’s super-easy to create memes now.
The increases range from 15-30% across almost the entire Mac and iPad lineup, while the poor old Apple TV 4K is now 54% more expensive in the US and 34% more in the UK. The Vision Pro also got a 6% bump, affecting precisely nobody.
Cheaper stock is still available online at the time of writing, but that may not last for long. If you have your eye on a new iPad Air or MacBook Pro, we suggest you head to our Apple devices Prime Day deals roundup before the sale ends tonight.
The Vice price isn't right for many fans (Rockstar Games)
Looking good, Lance… Meta has unveiled new AI glasses, this time in collaboration with leading eyewear brand EssilorLuxottica. They're called, simply, Meta Glasses, and our Editor-at-Large Lance Ulanoff says they're more stylish — and considerably more affordable (from $299 / £269) — than its previous Ray-Ban specs.
Lance, who these days is rarely photographed not wearing a pair of smart specs (except perhaps when he's wearing his beloved Apple Vision Pro), got to try on the Meta Glasses, and try out their AI features, at a launch event in Manhattan. He also chatted to Meta execs, who said the company is working to make glasses that are more comfortable, more fashionable, and more affordable in a bid to "reach every corner of the market".
If you're looking for a pair of smart specs and you aren't grabbed by the new Meta Glasses, Josephine Watson has rounded up the best deals she's found on AI/AR glasses, including older options from Meta, and specs from XReal and RayNeo.
Get caught up — the rest of this week's tech news in 30 seconds
Our personal Prime Day picks… We haven’t been talking about much else this week other than Amazon's latest Prime Day event, because the team has been too busy finding the best deals on the best tech they’ve reviewed and rated to write about much else.
Prime Day ends today, and below you’ll find some of the top deals we've found this week that are still available, complete with detailed breakdowns of why our writers love these products, and why they think you will too. Be sure to also check out our round-ups of the 150 best Prime Day deals to shop at Amazon US, and the 100+ best deals still live at Amazon UK.
Ringing the changes... If it came down to looks and performance, Amelia Schwanke's Oura Ring 5 review would have been straight As. The 40% reduction in size from the previous model makes the Ring 5 the most discreet smart ring around, and it can easily pass as jewelry. It tracks over 50 health and wellness metrics, excels at sleep insights, and heart-rate readings came within 3bpm of the Polar H10 chest strap (the gold standard in consumer heart-rate monitoring).
Where it falls short is on value. Pricing starts at $399 / £399, and with a $5.99 monthly subscription and optional charging case on top, you're looking at the better part of $600 / £600 to own it for a year. That makes it hard to recommend over the Oura Ring 4,which hit a record-low $226 / £232 this week, making it much better value, based on our comparison of the Oura Ring 4 and Oura Ring 5. Whichever one you go for, you'll still be getting the same great Oura Ring app experience and insights.
Look out DJI… The new Insta360 Luna Ultra is an 8K compact vlogging camera with dual lenses, an innovative detachable OLED touchscreen and control module, and a host of high-end video features — check out our resident content creator Tim Coleman's video review below.
What's on – the week in entertainment
Milly Alcock delivers a pitch-perfect performance as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl (DC Studios / Warner Bros. Pictures)
The first Supergirl movie in 42 years has flown into theaters, and while our Senior Entertainment Writer Tom Power loved Milly Alcock's performance as Kara Zor-El, he says the movie “fails to do justice to the graphic novel it’s based on”. You can read Tom’s comprehensive take in his Supergirl review — and if you’ve already seen the film, check out Tom’s Supergirl ending explained article to find out how it sets up another DC Universe flick.
In her Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 review, Jasmine Valentine says Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the beloved anime is a "huge improvement" on its "dreadful" first season. Even so, Jasmine says it still can’t match the brilliance of the original show; maybe its third and final season will…
Elsewhere in the entertainment world, TechRadar's number one Disney fan, Jacob Krol, got an exclusive first look at Disney's next-generation audio-animatronic technology — and watched a pirate transform into a skeleton in seconds.
If you’re looking to escape the heat (in the UK) and/or the World Cup (anywhere) this weekend, make sure to check out the latest edition of our weekly streaming round-up. There’s something for everyone, I promise you!
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Oscar Isaac is just one of the many famous actors that has stepped inside the Criterion Closet (Criterion Collection)
