It’s D-day for new MacBooks, here’s how much they should cost

If the speculation is correct, Apple will be releasing its new 14” and 16” M5 MacBook Pros on Wednesday, and the good news is that no price increase is expected.

The Apple Creator Studio subscription service is confirmed to be launched on Wednesday, and therefore the release of the new devices will coincide with that.

The Apple Creator Studio package will allow users to pay one smaller fee per month or year, rather than a bigger outlay upfront to buy an app permanently. The apps include Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Motion and more feature-rich versions of Pages and Numbers.

As in previous recent cycles, the new devices are set to start at the same price as the outgoing model.

Pricing and Performance: New MacBook Pro Models and Affordable Options

That means the new 14” MacBook Pro with the Apple M5 Pro chip should start at R45,299 while the 16” will begin at R56,999.

It has to be noted that these are the high-end models, and there is a major difference between the 14” MacBook Pro with the M5 chip and the same model with the M5 Pro chip.

These high-end models are geared towards power users who use apps like Final Cut Pro, Motion and coding.

For everyone else, the base model M5 models are more than powerful enough for any task including basic video editing and design.

Even the M4 MacBook Air can still more than cover any regular user’s needs in 2026 and for the next few years.

In fact, the budget MacBook which is also set to be released soon could prove to be the best-suited Apple laptop for the majority of people. Expected to be by far Apple’s cheapest laptop coming in at around R13,000 - this device is aimed at the budget laptop market and is perfectly suited to any office-based work.

@Michael_Sherman

IOL Tech