Mac Mini and Mac Studio Facing Extreme Shipping Delays Amid Severe RAM Shortage

[MacRumors]

Apple's online store in the U.S. is currently showing delivery estimates of up to 4-5 months for many Mac mini and Mac Studio configurations with upgraded amounts of RAM. The delays are occurring amid a severe global memory chip shortage driven by surging demand from companies building AI servers that require large amounts of RAM.

For example, a Mac mini with an M4 Pro chip and 64GB of RAM ordered from Apple's online store in the U.S. today is estimated to ship in 16-18 weeks.

Even the $599 base model with an M4 chip and 16GB of RAM has a one-month delay.

Likewise, a Mac Studio with an M3 Ultra chip and 256GB of RAM is estimated to ship in 4-5 months, with in-store pickup not available until September.

Last month, Apple entirely removed the Mac Studio's 512GB of RAM option.

Memory chip prices are reportedly starting to stabilize or slightly decrease, but prices still remain well above historical averages, so high-end Mac mini and Mac Studio shipping estimates might not meaningfully improve any time soon.

Article Link: Mac Mini and Mac Studio Facing Extreme Shipping Delays Amid Severe RAM Shortage

 

[Zwhaler]

Bring on the M5 Ultra with 1TB RAM!

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Sounds like they need to RAMp up production, no?

I’ll grab my coat.

 

[abatabia]

Just wild. Has it ever been this bad? Genuinely curious.

 

[G3Blue]

Or are the M5 versions due imminently?

 

[Nik]

Absolute nonsense. Other products are available, nothing to do with RAM. They are short on supply due to imminent M5 update.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Correlation does not imply causation.

 

[maflynn]

Bring on the M5 Ultra with 1TB RAM!

That's probably not going to happen anytime soon if they a can't fulfill existing orders

 

[dannys1]

Absolute nonsense. Other products are available, nothing to do with RAM. They are short on supply due to imminent M5 update.

You couldn't be more wrong.

 

[maflynn]

I can't say that I'm surprisd by the delays, apple is not immune to the ram/storage woes plaguing the industry

 

[dannys1]

Just wild. Has it ever been this bad? Genuinely curious.

No because we've never had 3 companies purchasing 100% of the worlds RAM supply.

 

[t0rqx]

Apple is going down.

 

[Rychiar]

this just had to happen right when we needed to get a new one at work.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

It’s weird considering 64GB MBPs had a 4/27 delivery date but 128GB MBPs had a 4/20 delivery date last week.

I wonder if the open claw + Mac mini combo truly made demand skyrocket.

 

[Biro]

As others have posted: I’m not so sure these delays are all about RAM shortages. They’re more like the typical delays for certain Apple devices shortly before they are about to be replaced by new models. M5 Mac Minis and Mac Studios are due soon.

 

[Elwe]

Just wild. Has it ever been this bad? Genuinely curious.

Yes, it has. It is difficult to compare eras, but the crisis in/about 1988 is probably the worst I’ve personally seen and studied.

 

[dannys1]

By the way, MacRumours is slow to notice, this been like this for over 6 weeks now - the 512gb machine was discontinued because they couldn't keep up with demand.

The only system available with higher ram amounts (64gb/128gb) is the new M5 Max MBP - which will have had the limited RAM modules Apple have got ear marked for it as it's a new release. Leaving the Mac mini and Mac Studio struggling - coupled with the fact that AI teams are more interested in running headless desktop computers not MacBook Pros which are not nearly as popular.

As a Mac reseller if I could get hold of them right now I could be selling multiple 512gb Mac Studios every day and over RRP as well.

 

[Siliconguy]

Or are the M5 versions are due imminently?

Could be both. If RAM supplies are constrained then where do you deploy what you have most effectively, the current bread and butter or the new hotness? Announcing M5s that they can't ship due to lack of RAM is not good business. Many people buying an M4 will turn it right around if the M5 comes out within the return window leaving Apple with stock for the refurb store.

So either way the best thing for Apple is to give M5 hardware the priority for the available RAM chips.

Side question; Does the Neo use the same RAM chips as the M-series CPUs or is it different as in slower and lower density?

 

[HiVolt]

Just wild. Has it ever been this bad? Genuinely curious.

No, because no previous shortage affected DRAM, NAND & even traditional spinning drive markets. CPU prices are set to increase as well.

And in no previous component shortage was caused by a single global event, in this case the AI insanity.

 

[ttyRazor]

Are we sure these delays are all about RAM shortages… and not the typical delays for certain Apple devices shortly before they are about to be replaced by new models?

I'd expect it's a combination of both that and higher than expected demand thanks to OpenClaw and other AI stuff. Rather than ramp up the existing models they're probably instead gearing up the M5 updates.

 

[TigerDeLSU]

Traders beg to differ.

 

[Ja50n]

Assuming it’s true that their solution to RAM pricing is to increase the lead times by several months, it’s an interesting strategy. They keep the prices the same, and simply make the products with more RAM scarce by the months wait before shipping.

 

[bigandtasty]

M4 256 still available on BestBuy and Amazon for those looking

 

[crsh1976]

The memory chip crisis is a real thing, Apple cannot secure supplies inspite of what's going on, with suppliers surrendering all current and future production to the 3-4 highest bidders.

 

[klasma]

Doesn’t Apple use Low Price DDR?