The 12 most ridiculously overpriced Apple products, ranked

It’s no secret that Apple is not a cheap brand. Although the company sells relatively affordable “SE” and “e” variants of some devices, it has always focused primarily on the premium tiers – and the public generally knows what to expect.

Nonetheless, there have been several instances where Apple has released exceptionally overpriced products that transcend the typical “Apple tax,” shocking customers with ridiculously high markups. Let’s take a look at a few of them, starting with the most accessible of these notoriously expensive items and work our way up to the most incredibly expensive product in Apple history.

12. Polishing Cloth (2021)

Apple

Arguably the cheapest and most expensive Apple product is the Polishing Cloth released in 2021. For $19, you get a 6.3 x 6.3 inch (16 x 16 cm) cloth made from a non-abrasive material, suitable for wiping fingerprints from your Apple screen. While $19 may be negligible for some people, the product is still objectively overpriced compared to similar microfiber cloths sold by third parties.

Many enthusiasts justify paying higher prices for Apple’s tight ecosystem integrations, long years of software support, and reliable build quality. These arguments, however, don’t apply to the polishing cloth, since, well, it’s just a cloth.

11. Shoulder strap (2025)

Apple

Earlier this year, Apple launched the iPhone 17 series, along with a brand new Crossbody Strap accessory. The $59 product is made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) yarn and lets you hang your iPhone on your body when paired with a compatible Apple case (starting at $39).

As with the polishing cloth, there’s really no benefit to buying the $100+ Apple version, as third-party options made from the same material are offered for a fraction of the price. A similar argument could be made about Apple’s iPhone cases, which cost around $50 and aren’t always durable or… finely woven.

10. iPhone Pocket (2025)

Apple

Now let’s move on to why this list is being written in the first place: Apple’s highly innovative iPhone Pocket. For just $149.95 or $229.95, you can get the short or long variation of this 2025 fashion statement.

For those who don’t know it, the iPhone Pocket is a special edition project in collaboration with Issey Miyake, the namesake of the Japanese designer famous for making Steve Jobs’ turtleneck. As the name suggests, it’s a 3D knitted pocket for your iPhone that you can wear or clip to your bag – a Posh Cloth, if you prefer. While it may visually resemble the fan-favorite iPod Sock, it absolutely doesn’t match its more reasonable $29 price tag.

9. Pro Booth (2019)

Apple

Next, we have the $999 Pro Stand of the Pro Display Well, except the $1,000 only gets you the display stand, not the display itself.

Now, I’m not going to argue whether the Pro Display However, there’s no defense for a separate aluminum stand costing as much as an iPhone, no matter how versatile it is.

8. Apple Vision Pro (2024)

Apple

We all knew that Vision Pro was going to have a hefty price tag, but when it was revealed at WWDC 2023, its whopping $3,499 price tag was at the highest of expectations. Although one might suggest that the price is reasonable for a very sophisticated first generation space computerApple kept the same price with this year’s M5 refresh, which brought little more than a new chip. Given that it still can’t replace a Mac and visionOS is limited, we can safely say that this ambitious headset is ridiculously overpriced.

7.Macintosh XL (1985)

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In 1985, the Macintosh XL wasn’t actually a new Mac, rather it was a retooled version of Apple’s failed Lisa PC, with a price tag of $3,995, which today would translate to about $12,000 when accounting for inflation. Considering the original Lisa (see #3 below) sold for $9,995, the Macintosh XL was quite affordable and sold quite well, but production was discontinued four months later.

6. iMac Pro (2017)

Apple

To appease professionals who were hamstrung by the cylindrical Mac Pro but still wanted a new machine, Apple released the iMac Pro in 2017 as a higher-performance version of the iMac, catering to professionals with exceptionally demanding needs. It came with high-end specs, including an 18-core Intel Xeon processor, 5K display, and AMD Vega graphics, but started at $4,999. Early rumors suggested the machine would cost up to $17,000, so perhaps customers were pleasantly surprised to learn that the max version topped out at just $13,199.

5. Twentieth Anniversary Mac (1997)

Six colors

To celebrate 20 years in business, Apple produced 12,000 units of the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (TAM) in 1997 to showcase Apple’s talent in design. This high-end machine was equipped with a flat LCD screen and a Bose sound system, but its price of $7,499 (about $14,600 today) made it one of the company’s most expensive devices to date. It was so futuristic that Apple delivered it to customers in a limousine, but it didn’t sell until Apple lowered the price to $1,995.

4. Apple Watch 18k Gold Edition (2015)

Foundry

Remember when the Apple Watch was still going through its identity crisis phase? The wallets of a few unlucky customers certainly do. In 2015, the 18k gold Apple Watch Edition debuted for an insane $17,000. Not only was it the same watch as the $349 version, but it became obsolete a few years later. Apple always tailors its smartwatches to luxury fashionistas, but the high-end Hermès models cost a much easier $1,949 to swallow.

3. Macintosh portable (1989)

If you think the 16-inch MacBook Pro is expensive, the 1989 Macintosh Portable, Apple’s first battery-powered Mac, cost $7,300, or about $18,500 today. Although technically “portable,” it weighed 16 pounds and lasted about 10 hours when unplugged. It was a major step toward the PowerBook and MacBook, but its high price prevented it from mainstream adoption, and the company discontinued it in 1991.

2. Lisa (1983)

Computer History Museum

Launched in 1983 for $9,995 (over $31,000 today), Lisa was one of Apple’s first desktop computers. However, due to its exorbitant cost, Lisa’s sales failed to meet the company’s expectations. So Apple buried 2,700 Lisa units in a landfill and released the Macintosh line a few years later at a lower price.

1. Mac Pro (2019)

Apple

Last but not least, we have the most expensive cheese grater in the world. In 2019, a year before entering the M chip era, Apple launched a modular Mac Pro tower for power users. When maxed out, the Intel-powered computer costs $52,748, not including the display. This crowns it perhaps the most expensive product Apple has ever launched, now that the self-driving car project has been abandoned.

Today, the latest maxed Mac Pro with an M2 Ultra costs just $12,448, a significant drop from $50,000. Although the $699 wheel kit is still sold separately.