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Apple Cuts More Mac Studio and Mac Mini RAM Options as Memory Shortage Worsens
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Colpeas
macrumors 6502a
Hate or not, they’re still gonna keep using it. Nobody care about feelings as long as money keeps pouring in.
spiral90210
macrumors newbie
Ah the M5 was the generation I was going to get a studio as well, I'm so sad 😭. It won't kill me, the M2Pro macbook I have is _amazing_, but I was looking forward to getting a Max chip in a Studio (with a decent amount of memory!).
johnalan
macrumors 6502a
This is wild.
I appreciate they aren’t doing this for the lulz - it must be really hurting their biz.
I mean imagine how many people want to buy high end Macs for compute or indeed just average folks who want to buy a more future proofed Mac Mini with 64GB RAM.
Where does this end up? Maybe soon you won’t be able to buy a MacBook with more than 32 or 64GB of RAM.
I’m sure they’re scrambling internally.
Can’t be a long term strategy to just sell lower end spec, can it?
I appreciate they aren’t doing this for the lulz - it must be really hurting their biz.
I mean imagine how many people want to buy high end Macs for compute or indeed just average folks who want to buy a more future proofed Mac Mini with 64GB RAM.
Where does this end up? Maybe soon you won’t be able to buy a MacBook with more than 32 or 64GB of RAM.
I’m sure they’re scrambling internally.
Can’t be a long term strategy to just sell lower end spec, can it?
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Fair, that's a reasonable take. Anytime I hear about AI bubble burst stuff, it just sounds like the person thinks AI will pop and disappear entirely.The internet bubble did burst:
Dot-com bubble - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Smartphones have certainly boomed over the last couple of decades, and may have peaked, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a bubble. The smartphone industry didn’t see the pattern of crazy, FOMO-fuelled investment in underpants-gnome schemes as the early dot com boom or the current AI mania.
If the AI bubble bursts it doesn’t mean that “AI” will go away - it’s a useful technology with many applications and it’s already improved things like natural language interfaces and image recognition. The problem is the current crazy investment in data centres that will be obsolete before they are built, confirmation-bias-driven attempts to pretend LLMs can do things that they can’t, and forcing them on customers who don’t want them.
the8thark
macrumors 601
Or maybe he did see it coming . . . His retirement from CEO date was chosen for a reason.
Gioser
macrumors member
The reason is probably also tied to the memory being used.
M5 laptops support LPDDR5-9600, which is the exact type of RAM Apple reportedly bought in massive quantities last month for upcoming M5/M6 and A19 Pro/A20 Pro production.
Meanwhile, M3 chips use LPDDR5-6400, while M4 and A18 Pro rely on LPDDR5-7500 — a memory type Apple appears to be running very low on.
That could explain why they seem to be heavily limiting availability and sales of some current products: until the transition to M5/M5 Pro on the Mac mini, M5 Max /M5 Ultra on the Mac Studio, and A19 Pro on the Neo is completed, they’ll probably continue facing supply constraints related to memory availability.
They do it literally every year as they get near the launch of the next generation. Maybe you’ve not been paying attention.
The RAM is in the CPU package. It’s been a long time since they’ll have done a production run of M3 chips and likely M4 too as they’re phased out. It makes sense not to do a production run of high end chips from two generations back just before launching the new range. It’s not like they make 100 at a time, nor do they have a line set up for manufacturing them.
Apple will likely have stopped or significantly slowed doenbm4 mac mini production earlier this year to ramp up stock for m5.
Nvidia does this to in the lead up to new gpus launching. This results in out going models being low or out of stock.
dannys1
macrumors 601
No they don't. They've NEVER made it impossible to order specs. At the end of a life span you see ALL specs get extended dispatch times, which then end up getting cancelled and replaced. They NEVER actively removed specs from being ordered - especially not popular ones like these.
I'm not sure what point you're trying to argue - are you trying to say the RAM shortage is a conspiracy theory?
If Apple could get hold of enough RAM chips they'd be replacing MacBook Pros with Mac Studios currently the way they were selling - i'm running a store and i've never seen sales like it since Covid, people were buying 3 or 4 512gb RAM Mac Studios - Apple simply can't get the DIMMS to keep up with demand - there is NO M5 imminently arriving, in fact Apple aren't cancelling orders that were placed before they discotinued the specs - they're commited to fulfilling all our orders right up until September. So you're not going to be seeing any M5 Mac Studio or Mac mini until at least October, if this year at all - and even then I imagine it'll initially be in limited supply.
This is just marketing exercise knowing the next generation of Mac Mini's, Studios are going to appear shortly.
Whilst RAM prices have risen, does anyone really believe that Apple haven't got long term contracts?
Why would you offer increased RAM on M4 Mac Mini's when the M5 is shortly to be released. It would just mean disgruntled customers or even more returns within Apple's allowed return period.
For what it's worth the M4 Mac mini even in its basic configuration is a marvellous machine. We have around 250 out in the field, and yes, we will be upgrading to the M5 as and when, but the M4 is still eminently usable, as is the M1.
Our customers utilise the Mac mini's in ever surprising ways, but we get very very few returned for any problems or even lack of performance even on the base models.
Whilst RAM prices have risen, does anyone really believe that Apple haven't got long term contracts?
Why would you offer increased RAM on M4 Mac Mini's when the M5 is shortly to be released. It would just mean disgruntled customers or even more returns within Apple's allowed return period.
For what it's worth the M4 Mac mini even in its basic configuration is a marvellous machine. We have around 250 out in the field, and yes, we will be upgrading to the M5 as and when, but the M4 is still eminently usable, as is the M1.
Our customers utilise the Mac mini's in ever surprising ways, but we get very very few returned for any problems or even lack of performance even on the base models.
realLucaR
macrumors regular
Pretty sure it won't burst anytime soon. I don't think that AI is going anywhere..
realLucaR
macrumors regular
They have NEVER done that before. Usually they would extend the delivery time of higher spec options by a few weeks and then upgrade you to the newer model.
nylonsteel
macrumors 68000
i'm so dissapointed mac mini ram cannot be user upgraded. thats why i still have my intel mac mini. unfortunately the intel mac will be not supported when the newer os comes out later this year. aapl are you listening - i would by a new mac mini now if users would be able to upgrade ram!
Man, screw AI. Ruining everything I love.
I imagine that the manufacturers of the components that are in short supply went to Apple and told them how much it would cost to guarantee supply…and Apple refused to pay whatever premium was asked for.
Now Apple is cutting product options. Soon we’ll be back to the quadrants Steve Jobs had except now with iPhone, iPhone Pro, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro as the only devices getting the components.
Now Apple is cutting product options. Soon we’ll be back to the quadrants Steve Jobs had except now with iPhone, iPhone Pro, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro as the only devices getting the components.
robertosh
macrumors 65816
In fact, that's really the point. You have no memory to run them locally, you need to pay a subscription to run it in the cloud.
I think that the big AI guys are not buying memory just because they need it, but because this way we cannot buy it for us.
It does not matter anymore if bubble burst or not, the model has already changed and there is no way back.
Having a +64G machine at home will be a rare and luxury thing in the future.
FilthyMuppetInnuendo
macrumors regular
The products are desired so greatly solely because of these decisions that you personally do not understand. No one is buying up “micro-PCs” to do things.
Technically it is, since it’s RAM that doesn’t exist (and never will) being earmarked as future purchases by companies that can’t pay for it (they took loans or credit swaps) to install in servers that haven’t been built (and won’t be) because the buildings in which they’re slated to be installed don’t exist (and can’t) and have no electricity because the capacity isn’t on the grid (and can’t be for decades).
I’m just excited for future economics textbooks to finally be able to show a spike bigger than the Tulip Craze. Assuming there’s a civilization that retains printing presses on the other side of this debacle.
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You can still get an M4, 512GB storage, 32GB RAM pink iMac shipped by next week. 24GB RAM models seem to be widely available from retailers like B&H.
Boom!
… and there goes Apple's most important opportunity to gain marketshare in their entire history. Undone by RAM of all things.
🤞Here's hoping Ternus has a rabbit in a hat somewhere
Apple, you've had RAM issues before. How much longer are you going to let the "tail wag the dog" on this issue?
You've already moved to your own Silicon for CPU/GPU and now have your own C1 modem chip. Just buy Micron and solve the memory issue once and for all.
That is, unless, you just want to give up and pivot into the insurance business the way Sony did 🫤
… and there goes Apple's most important opportunity to gain marketshare in their entire history. Undone by RAM of all things.
🤞Here's hoping Ternus has a rabbit in a hat somewhere
Apple, you've had RAM issues before. How much longer are you going to let the "tail wag the dog" on this issue?
You've already moved to your own Silicon for CPU/GPU and now have your own C1 modem chip. Just buy Micron and solve the memory issue once and for all.
That is, unless, you just want to give up and pivot into the insurance business the way Sony did 🫤