Mac Studio shortages: the wait for 256GB and 512GB

The hardest Mac Studios to replace are the ones with the most memory. M3 Ultra buyers watched the 512GB option disappear, then saw 256GB orders stretch into months before Apple stopped taking them. The M5 Ultra brings those capacities into a new generation, but it has not brought an immediate end to the wait.¹²

Behind that shortage is a hardware market getting more expensive to supply. AI demand is consuming memory capacity, and manufacturers are warning of constraints beyond 2030. Our view: expect upward pressure on the cost of high-memory workstations, with scarce 256GB and 512GB machines better placed to hold their value or appreciate. A new chip launch alone is a poor reason to expect a bargain.

How the M3 Ultra shortage unfolded

In March, Apple removed the M3 Ultra’s 512GB memory upgrade from its online store. MacRumors also recorded longer waits for the remaining 256GB configuration. By early April, Apple was quoting four to five months for 256GB machines. A week later, 9to5Mac found that Apple was no longer accepting orders for them.¹²

That matters if you need the capacity. A newer Mac with less memory does not necessarily replace an older one with 256GB or 512GB. For a large local AI model, having enough memory to load it can matter more than a faster processor with too little room.

It also changes the position of existing owners. A working, high-memory M3 Ultra remains useful when its replacement is expensive or months away. The arrival of M5 Ultra adds competition, but only machines that buyers can actually obtain can satisfy that demand.

M5 Ultra buyers are already reporting long waits

Apple’s new Mac Studio range begins availability on 22 September. The 512GB configuration has a separate, later window: late October. That puts the largest memory option more than a month behind the main launch.³

Some 256GB pre-orders are already well beyond September. In a buyer discussion checked on 8 September, one customer reported 3–17 December for a 36-core CPU, 80-core GPU M5 Ultra with 256GB memory and 4TB storage. A Belgian buyer reported 10–24 November for the same chip and memory with a 2TB SSD. Other early buyers reported September delivery.⁴

Those are individual order reports, not a single UK-wide delivery estimate. They show why the headline launch date misses the story: buyers of the same memory capacity can face very different waits. The later 512GB release also leaves a fresh queue of demand still to be served.

The link to rising memory prices

AI infrastructure is pulling on memory supply from several directions. Servers need large amounts of system RAM, while AI accelerators need high-bandwidth memory. Deloitte’s July analysis describes manufacturers shifting capacity towards those lucrative markets and expects tight supply and elevated prices into 2029 or 2030 if demand from the largest cloud companies continues.⁵

The DDR5 market shows how far costs have already moved. TrendForce’s monthly quotation for a mainstream 16Gb DDR5 chip rose by 53.9% between January and August 2026. Our DDR5 price report shows the full series. Mac Studio’s unified memory is a different product, so that percentage is not an Apple component-cost increase. It is evidence of the wider pressure on memory supply.⁶

In July, SK hynix chief executive Kwak Noh-jung told Reuters that customer demand could exceed his company’s production capacity beyond 2030. New factories are coming, but they take years to build and bring up to full production. This is a much longer supply problem than a busy launch week.⁷

Why high-memory Macs could become more valuable

The connection is replacement cost. When a new machine costs more to build and takes longer to arrive, an existing machine that can do the work becomes more attractive. For 256GB and 512GB Mac Studios, the memory capacity is a large part of that usefulness.

Our expectation is that prolonged memory shortages will keep replacement costs under upward pressure and support higher prices for scarce high-memory configurations. Some existing machines could appreciate while demand outpaces available stock. The strongest case is for a useful specification that buyers cannot readily replace, rather than every Mac bearing an Ultra badge.

That is our market outlook, not a measured rise in completed Mac Studio sales. Condition, warranty, the price of an available M5 alternative and future supply will still determine what a particular M3 Ultra is worth. But the evidence gives buyers little reason to build a project budget around an automatic price drop.

Buy the capacity your work needs

If a project needs 256GB or 512GB now, compare an available machine with the cost and delay of its actual replacement. An in-stock M3 Ultra can be a serious option alongside an M5 Ultra order. Compare the full chip, memory and storage configuration, then confirm that the seller has the machine and can dispatch it.

For owners, the same logic means checking replacement cost before accepting a routine trade-in valuation. A high-memory machine may be harder to buy again than its age suggests.

We can help assess a high-memory Mac or a workstation for the job. Contact Neox with the software you run, the memory you need and your deadline. If your work runs on Windows or Linux, our compact workstation configurator gives you another configuration to compare.