CUPERTINO, California, April 13, 2026, 05:03 PDT
Apple has halted U.S. sales of multiple higher-memory Mac mini and Mac Studio versions, with shipping times on certain models ballooning from weeks into months. The more expensive options vanished earliest, fueling speculation: Is the company feeling the bite of the broader memory shortage, prepping for refreshed desktops, or dealing with both at once?
Timing comes into play here: Apple rolled out M5 chips for MacBook Air and MacBook Pro back in March, but desktop Macs didn’t get the update. For pro shoppers, it’s the high-memory options vanishing—crucial for developers, video editors, and anyone doing AI-heavy work.
Over the weekend, several Mac mini models with 32GB or 64GB of RAM, along with Mac Studio configurations offering 128GB or 256GB, were tagged as “currently unavailable” on Apple’s U.S. store—no delivery timeline, no ordering option. The rest of the lineup remained available, but shipping estimates were stretching from a month up to three. Some Mac Studio units with 256GB had already seen their waits balloon to four or five months. MacRumors
Apple dropped the Mac Studio’s 512GB memory option last month. That move is notable, given that when the latest Mac Studio debuted in March 2025, hardware boss John Ternus described it as “the most powerful Mac we’ve ever made.” He touted the machine’s ability to run large language models—AI engines that power chatbots—with more than 600 billion parameters fully in memory, relying on up to 512GB of unified memory, Apple’s setup where CPU and GPU tap the same RAM pool. MacRumors
The supply story is right up front. On March 31, TrendForce projected that conventional DRAM prices will surge 58% to 63% in the second quarter, with suppliers reallocating more capacity to servers. Samsung’s upbeat first-quarter outlook, as Reuters noted, got a lift from that same AI-driven supply squeeze. “As customers anticipated further increases, actual contract prices came in higher,” Meritz Securities senior analyst Kim Sunwoo told Reuters. TrendForce
Apple has flagged this pressure before. “We do continue to see market pricing for memory increasing significantly,” Chief Executive Tim Cook told analysts on the January earnings call, Reuters reported. Others are feeling it too—HP in February pointed to ongoing memory-chip swings that could stretch into next year, while Lenovo cited shortages driving up PC prices and squeezing shipments. Reuters
Demand could be a factor here. According to Apple, the Mac mini M4 Pro comes with up to 64GB of unified memory and boasts double the memory bandwidth of any AI PC chip. Meanwhile, the Mac Studio starts at $1,999, targeting users with AI-intensive workloads. Notably, the unavailable models are those with higher memory options—possibly not a coincidence—though Apple hasn’t confirmed demand is to blame.
Timing is the other factor. Apple’s WWDC is slated for June 8-12, while Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has pointed to refreshed Mac Studio units up next, and M5 Mac mini models showing up on Apple’s 2026 roadmap. Handing off the desktop lineup over the next few months aligns with Apple’s typical Mac refresh cadence.
The signal remains hard to read. TrendForce’s Avril Wu told Reuters that spot DRAM prices slipped last week, blaming sluggish end-user demand for failing to keep pace with higher prices—potentially a sign the initial jolt is wearing off. Apple, for its part, hasn’t addressed the store changes. Anyone hoping for answers may have to wait until its next earnings call on April 30, as shelves stay sparse and wait times drag on.
