TL;DR: A MacBook Air shortage is hitting Apple’s US online store right now, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, with orders facing a 2 to 6 week wait and some configurations slipping into September. The shortage lands just weeks after Apple raised the laptop’s price from $1,099 to $1,299 in June, the second increase this year. The cause is the same AI-driven memory chip crunch already squeezing iPhone and Android pricing, and Apple is reportedly prioritizing its entry-level MacBook Pro over restocking the Air.
Apple cannot keep the MacBook Air on shelves right now, and the timing could not be more awkward. The laptop got a price increase in June, and instead of settling supply, the MacBook Air shortage has only gotten worse since, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
What Mark Gurman is reporting about MacBook Air supply
In his Power On newsletter published August 2, 2026, Gurman wrote that retail sources describe MacBook Air shipments as more constrained than they can recall. Apple’s own online store currently lists a 2 to 6 week delivery window in the US, and configurations with more RAM are pushed out even further than that.
The pattern is not new. Gurman notes the same memory shortage already hit two of Apple’s smaller Mac lines, the Mac mini and Mac Studio, before reaching the company’s best-selling laptop. 9to5Mac reports that Apple has also delayed its usual back-to-school promotion from June and is now flagging MacBook Air units as “subject to availability” in its own marketing, language the company rarely uses for a laptop barely a year into its cycle.
Why the MacBook Air shortage is happening
The root cause traces back to the same global memory chip crunch behind rising smartphone prices across the industry. AI companies building out data centers are buying DRAM and NAND flash faster than manufacturers can produce it, and consumer electronics makers are left competing for what remains at inflated prices.
Related: The RAM shortage is real and your next phone will cost more because of AI data centers
Per Gurman’s sources, Apple is working two angles to fix it. The company is preparing to source memory from Chinese suppliers for devices sold in China, and it is prioritizing its entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro over the Air, partly to clear inventory ahead of an M6 chip refresh expected this fall. “I don’t expect a new MacBook Air until a bit later,” Gurman wrote in the newsletter, suggesting the current M5 model will stay squeezed for a while yet.
How MacBook Air pricing got to $1,299
Apple’s MacBook Air pricing moved twice this year, not once, and each increase came with a different justification.
| Timeline | Starting Price | What Changed |
|---|---|---|
| Through February 2026 | $999 | M4 chip, 256GB base storage |
| March 2026 (M5 launch) | $1,099 | New M5 chip, base storage doubled to 512GB |
| June 2026 (current) | $1,299 | Same M5 hardware, price-only increase tied to memory costs |
The March increase came bundled with a real upgrade, since doubling the base storage to 512GB gave buyers something tangible for the extra $100. The June increase offered no such trade. It was a straight $200 markup on the same hardware, tied directly to the memory costs squeezing the rest of Apple’s lineup.
What this means if you want a MacBook Air now
Ordering a MacBook Air from Apple directly means waiting. TechCrunch reports buyers should plan for delivery in the back half of August at the earliest, with some configurations, particularly higher RAM and storage tiers, slipping into September.
Retail channels outside Apple’s own store are the more reliable option right now. Amazon currently has the M5 MacBook Air in stock with next-day delivery, and it has been selling for roughly $100 under Apple’s list price. That gap will not necessarily hold if Apple’s own supply keeps tightening.
Buyers set on the base configuration gain two things by ordering now rather than waiting: protection from further stock delays and from any additional price adjustment Apple has already signaled it may need to make.
The AI memory shortage is not just a phone problem
The MacBook Air joining the shortage list matters because it confirms the AI memory crunch has moved from a phone story to a computer story. DigitBin has already covered how the same shortage is pushing smartphone prices up 6 to 25% depending on the tier, and how it factors directly into the iPhone 18 Pro’s expected price increase this September.
Related: Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro is heading for a price hike and the memory chip math explains why
The MacBook Air was supposed to be insulated from that pressure, since it is a full product cycle old and already absorbed one price correction in March. Instead, it shows the shortage is deep enough to squeeze a laptop twice in the same year and still leave Apple short of units. Whatever the next MacBook Air costs, and whenever it actually ships, the memory market it launches into is not getting any easier.
