A new TrendForce report says MacBook price hikes will contribute to a 13.6% drop in global laptop shipments, although Apple is still expected to outperform the broader market. Here are the details.
Higher MacBook prices reshape Apple’s outlook for 2026
According to TrendForce, Apple’s recent price increases across the MacBook lineup have reshaped market expectations, showing that even premium brands are no longer insulated from memory shortages and rising component costs.
The report adds that higher MacBook prices could push some price-sensitive buyers toward premium Windows laptops, although the broader impact is expected to be limited:
TrendForce notes that higher MacBook prices may narrow the price overlap between MacBooks and certain premium Windows notebooks, encouraging some price-sensitive consumers to switch to Windows devices. Nevertheless, with notebook prices rising across the board and overall consumer demand weakening, this spillover effect is expected to be limited and is unlikely to become a meaningful driver of broader market recovery.
