India, June 26 -- In a move that cannot be called unprecedented as there were rumors of imminent price hike by hardware vendors in the light of supply chain and cost pressure for memory and other components, Apple did a sweeping, unannounced price hike across almost its entire Mac and iPad product range. Having absorbed those costs over the last few quarters, Apple decided to pass the increase to end consumers

The price correction, implemented quietly following a brief period where the online Apple Store was taken offline, adjusts pricing on existing inventory.

This means consumers are now paying substantially more for the exact same hardware models available last week.

Unlike standard pricing changes tied to cyclical hardware refreshe...