CUPERTINO, California, April 13, 2026, 05:03 PDT
Apple has stopped accepting U.S. orders for several higher-memory Mac mini and Mac Studio configurations after delivery estimates on some models stretched from weeks to months. The pullback hit the pricier builds first and sharpened questions over whether Apple is being squeezed by the memory shortage gripping the tech industry, clearing inventory ahead of new desktops, or both.
The timing matters because Apple refreshed MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with M5-series chips in March, leaving its desktop Macs outside that cycle. For pro buyers, the disappearing configurations are the ones with the most memory, a key spec for software development, video work and AI tasks.
Reports over the weekend said Mac mini configurations with 32GB or 64GB of RAM and Mac Studio builds with 128GB or 256GB were marked “currently unavailable” in Apple’s U.S. store, with no delivery estimate and no way to order. Other configurations stayed on sale, but shipping windows were still running from one to three months after some 256GB Mac Studio models had already slipped to four or five months. MacRumors
Apple had already removed the Mac Studio’s 512GB memory option last month. That stands out because when Apple launched the current Mac Studio in March 2025, hardware chief John Ternus called it “the most powerful Mac we’ve ever made” and said it could run large language models — the AI systems behind chatbots — with more than 600 billion parameters entirely in memory, using as much as 512GB of unified memory, Apple’s design in which the CPU and GPU share one RAM pool. MacRumors
A supply-side explanation is easy to see. TrendForce said on March 31 that conventional dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, prices are set to rise 58% to 63% in the second quarter as suppliers shift capacity toward servers, and Reuters reported Samsung’s strong first-quarter outlook was helped by the same AI-led squeeze. “As customers anticipated further increases, actual contract prices came in higher,” Kim Sunwoo, a senior analyst at Meritz Securities, told Reuters. TrendForce
Apple has warned about the pressure before. “We do continue to see market pricing for memory increasing significantly,” Chief Executive Tim Cook said on the company’s January earnings call, according to Reuters. Apple is not alone: HP said in February that memory-chip volatility could last into next year, while Lenovo warned the shortage was pressuring PC shipments and pushing prices higher. Reuters
Demand may also be part of the picture. Apple says the Mac mini M4 Pro supports up to 64GB of unified memory and offers twice the memory bandwidth of any AI PC chip, while the Mac Studio starts at $1,999 and was pitched as a desktop built for AI-heavy tasks. That helps explain why the missing configurations are the ones with the most memory, though Apple has not publicly said demand is the cause.
The other explanation is timing. Apple has said WWDC will run from June 8 to June 12, and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that upgraded Mac Studio models are next, with M5-based Mac mini models also on Apple’s 2026 roadmap. A desktop handoff in the coming months would fit Apple’s broader Mac update sequence.
Still, the signal is messy. Reuters quoted TrendForce Senior Vice President Avril Wu as saying spot DRAM prices eased last week because “end-user demand struggled to absorb elevated prices,” suggesting the first shock may be cooling. But Apple has not explained the store changes, and with its next quarterly call due on April 30, buyers may get clarity only after more weeks of thin stock or long waits. Reuters
