Apple increased the price of 96GB M3 Ultra Mac Studio from $3,999 to $5,299, citing an unprecedented memory chip shortage driven by artificial intelligence data center expansion. Apple’s statement explains why it raised prices across products, noting: “We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.” RAM and solid-state storage prices have skyrocketed as cloud providers and AI companies build out infrastructure, starving consumer electronics of affordable components.
The M5 Ultra’s uncertain arrival
The M5 Ultra is expected to land sometime this year, but an October launch is now in question. Current M3 Ultra Mac Studio orders already show delivery estimates stretching into October, which means the new model’s availability could slip further. Apple postponed the Mac Studio refresh from its original mid-2026 target due to memory supply problems and price escalation, according to a Bloomberg report from April.
The M5 Ultra’s specs suggest an incremental upgrade. The chip is expected to feature around 36 CPU cores and 80 GPU cores, compared to the M3 Ultra’s 32-core CPU and 80-core GPU configuration. Apple has tested support for up to 768GB of unified memory, but supply constraints will likely prevent it from shipping with that option at launch, if ever.
The 768GB option and pricing reality
If Apple released a Mac Studio with 768GB of RAM during the current memory crisis, pricing would be prohibitive. Eight times more memory in an environment where component costs have doubled or tripled could push the machine well over $10,000. The contrast is telling: M5 family chips use a different RAM type than M3, yet M5 Max MacBook Pro models with 128GB have remained readily available, suggesting Apple is prioritizing notebooks over desktops in a constrained supply environment.
The Mac Studio lineup has already weathered significant disruption. Apple removed the 512GB RAM option from M3 Ultra models in March 2026, leaving only the 96GB configuration available. With no M4 Ultra ever shipped, the M4 Max lacks the UltraFusion connector needed to create an Ultra chip, the M5 Ultra refresh has become the Mac Studio’s next inflection point. If that launch slips or arrives with limited configuration options, the professional desktop market faces a real gap.
Apple’s broader price increases extend beyond the Mac Studio. Apple increases prices across Mac iPad, more due to RAM costs, with the memory crisis rippling through multiple product lines in the June 25 announcement. According to Apple: “The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge. The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage.” That surge may ultimately determine whether the M5 Ultra arrives as planned, and at what price.
