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Apple Cuts More Mac Studio and Mac Mini RAM Options as Memory Shortage Worsens

In reading all of the above, the simplest explanation (see "Occam's razor") is that the M5 desktops are right around the corner and Apple doesn't want to waste a bunch of cash on last year's RAM to keep up with the spike in M4/M3 desktop demand. If the M5 desktops are not ready for prime time by June 8th, they may feel they have to say something, and, "pre-announce" the next desktops, without nailing down details. Everybody knows what the M5 is by now, anyway, the only question is whether or not there will be an M5 Ultra for Studio.
 
BSDnostalgia said:
In reading all of the above, the simplest explanation (see "Occam's razor") is that the M5 desktops are right around the corner and Apple doesn't want to waste a bunch of cash on last year's RAM to keep up with the spike in M4/M3 desktop demand. If the M5 desktops are not ready for prime time by June 8th, they may feel they have to say something, and, "pre-announce" the next desktops, without nailing down details. Everybody knows what the M5 is by now, anyway, the only question is whether or not there will be an M5 Ultra for Studio.
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They would never pre announce anything with the state of the world the way it is now - that’s only ever a killer for demand and might impact other products if something else were to happen to the supply chain.
 
So one of the first victims of the rush to AI are hardware companies like Apple that can't manufacture products to meet demand. This is a situation that will get worse rapidly given aging equipment, demands for more memory to run apps and attrition through hardware failure.

I was planning on buying a max'd out MacMini or Studio with the 5 chip. So that leaves me under-powered and Apple without my $2-3k.
 
Charlie Bonesx said:
It’s not that deep (as my child’s gen says)

There is nothing to sell. They have no physical inventory. Factories in Asia are tooling down due to geo- political “things and stuff” (don’t want to break the site rules here)

That’s a richly imaginative theory but nothing to do with reality

If they had inventory to sell they would sell it

Shareholders don’t like less revenue quarter over quarter
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True, that makes sense, I guess what I am trying to say is Apple is "in the progress of making" those initial numbers but they want MORE. I mean IDThink Apple just makes 5 million units of all kinds in one day/batch of them and says "Sell those" I think they wait till they build up some stock right, before they announce?? I mean come on... And the issue is they can't build up enough stock. I mean to think Apple has ZIP of the M5 Pro/Max and even Ultra right now? I mean come on, they have some I think... just not enough to offer to the public.
 
Charlie Bonesx said:
or they are all already in MacBooks?
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Look you believe what you want to believe about Mac Mini M5 Pro 64 and Mac Studio M5 Ultra 512. BUT I KNOW for A FACT, if Apple has 100 Mac Studio M5 Ultra 512s and released them (AND THIS IS ALL THEY CAN make due to "waiting for RAM"...
1st) They would all sell out, and then after they updated the site and said they were sold out till September
2nd) Half of those M5 Studio 512s would be inflated on eBay for $25,000+ or more, heck the M3s already ARE?
I mean come on Jesus...

The thing is IT IS that DEEP, there's some serious going on right now... HELLO
This only usually happens with iPhones

If they had them they'd sell um?!? Yeah right! (if they only had 100-500, of the Ultra M5 512s)
 
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This was never really an issue when you could buy a computer that you could afford and then upgrade the RAM later when prices were more affordable. It sure seems that would be a great option now.
 
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BSDnostalgia said:
In reading all of the above, the simplest explanation (see "Occam's razor") is that the M5 desktops are right around the corner and Apple doesn't want to waste a bunch of cash on last year's RAM to keep up with the spike in M4/M3 desktop demand. If the M5 desktops are not ready for prime time by June 8th, they may feel they have to say something, and, "pre-announce" the next desktops, without nailing down details. Everybody knows what the M5 is by now, anyway, the only question is whether or not there will be an M5 Ultra for Studio.
Click to expand...

if m5 desktop are "just around the corner" then why would they be selling m4 desktops to ship in in 10-12 weeks?
 
I called this forever ago. And yet people told me I didn’t know anything because Apple is the best and can just buy up all the RAM.
 
rob_m said:
This was never really an issue when you could buy a computer that you could afford and then upgrade the RAM later when prices were more affordable. It sure seems that would be a great option now.
Click to expand...

1) that's just not how apple silicon works

2) have you seen what dimms and sodimms cost right now?
 
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Serrafemme said:
This is all part of AI’s plan. It’s slowly choking us on the hardware side while simultaneously impacting global finance. Stage 2 it will begin collapsing logistical infrastructure followed by mass starvation on a global scale. Tell me I’m crazy until all the lights go out and no police are coming when people are breaking into your house to steal whatever supplies you’ve managed to scrape together.
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Even if the AI bubble bursts, several high level C-suite executives have come out and said the end goal is to own nothing. We will just have thin clients going forward and remote to a powerful server we pay monthly.
 
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rob_m said:
This was never really an issue when you could buy a computer that you could afford and then upgrade the RAM later when prices were more affordable. It sure seems that would be a great option now.
Click to expand...
Ironically if this was the case, Apple wouldn't be facing the crunch it is currently dealing with. Apple's computers are in high demand specifically because the unified memory architecture makes them ideal to run local models.

And even then, DIMM prices have been skyrocketing too. It's not really going to be more cost-effective to upgrade on your own.
 
Ethosik said:
Even if the AI bubble bursts, several high level C-suite executives have come out and said the end goal is to own nothing. We will just have thin clients going forward and remote to a powerful server we pay monthly.
Click to expand...
They said that around 2013 or so. They were sort of right and sort of wrong. Average users didn't need tower systems any more. Gamers more than made up the difference overall, though. Then came bitcoin mining, and the successive waves of GPU scarcity/surplus/scarcity. Now AI. In the meantime, latency and bandwidth still make it better to do some things locally to your screen. So, although it is true that most people on the planet are already client-only via cell phone, there are still lots of people who need to compute locally. The problem with MBAs in the C-suite is that they don't understand diverse requirements. They only want to think about the most common case, which is, indeed, handheld device renting access to servers.
 
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Ethosik said:
Even if the AI bubble bursts, several high level C-suite executives have come out and said the end goal is to own nothing. We will just have thin clients going forward and remote to a powerful server we pay monthly.
Click to expand...
Yeah but the real SERIOUS that is going down is the Chinese AI models are coming into the US thru hugging face, and messing with the US's AI economy that's gonna make the AI bubble burst. But what's the catch?
The catch is when the Chinese models are BETTER than OpenAI and Claude (that you can download), what do you need to have your OWN AI (local and private?) a damn MacStudio 512, and if you don't have that and the AI companies, like OpenAI or Claude, have to charge so much that they practically have to shut down...

And if you think the Models won't be as capable as the US models, one thing is certain ALL the Models for "their" task; Code, Images, Video, Music, etc are all HEADED to the same Maximum/Perfect LLM weights... the companies are just trying to LOCK in what those are...

Bubble burst!
🫧🪡
 
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Ran across this yesterday, an AI server node for the home, they pay you for the power, supposedly. It's the specs that caught my eye.

"According to a LinkedIn video, Span CEO Arch Rao says each node contains Dell PowerEdge servers with 16 Nvidia RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell GPUs, 4 AMD EPYC CPUs, and 3 TB of RAM, connected to a 24-port gigabit switch.

In the winter using that to heat the house might be pretty attractive.

Tech Bros Aim To Sidestep Local Resistance By Installing Mini Data Centers In Homes<!-- --> | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com www.zerohedge.com
 
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BSDnostalgia said:
They said that around 2013 or so. They were sort of right and sort of wrong. Average users didn't need tower systems any more. Gamers more than made up the difference overall, though. Then came bitcoin mining, and the successive waves of GPU scarcity/surplus/scarcity. Now AI. In the meantime, latency and bandwidth still make it better to do some things locally to your screen. So, although it is true that most people on the planet are already client-only via cell phone, there are still lots of people who need to compute locally. The problem with MBAs in the C-suite is that they don't understand diverse requirements. They only want to think about the most common case, which is, indeed, handheld device renting access to servers.
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I’m not referring to 2013. Some executives have said it THIS YEAR.
 
Oh man, now’s the time to stock up on your tech gear. With helium supplies constrained, it’s going to make new cpu purchases even more expensive. Tie that with the RAM shortage? Looks like a bad summer to need a new machine. Fortunately mine is only 5 years old so I can wait it out.
 
Siliconguy said:
Ran across this yesterday, an AI server node for the home, they pay you for the power, supposedly. It's the specs that caught my eye.

"According to a LinkedIn video, Span CEO Arch Rao says each node contains Dell PowerEdge servers with 16 Nvidia RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell GPUs, 4 AMD EPYC CPUs, and 3 TB of RAM, connected to a 24-port gigabit switch.

In the winter using that to heat the house might be pretty attractive.

Tech Bros Aim To Sidestep Local Resistance By Installing Mini Data Centers In Homes<!-- --> | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com www.zerohedge.com
Click to expand...

All I can think of for some reason is that the next major cloud services outage looks like the bankrun scene in the classic movie It's A Wonderful Life:

"Your data's not here. Why, your data is in Joe's house... and the Kinsey house, and Mrs. Mclain's house. And a hundred others..."
 
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baryon said:
I at least hope that when this AI boom is over and production catches up to demand, and demand starts going down, RAM and SSD prices will suddenly get incredibly cheap thanks to all the surplus of supply.
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RAM and SSD prices have been falling for 40 years. This current demand-fueled cost increase will be just a speed bump. Cost per GB will continue to fall over time; and, we will want more GB over time, just like always.
 
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