Apple's Mac Studio Gets Much More Expensive as Memory and Storage Prices Soar
Apple's Mac Studio M5 Max starts at $2,500 and M5 Ultra at $5,500, up $500 and $1,500, as memory and storage costs surge, Engadget reports.
The Mac Studio sits above the Mac Mini for users who need more power than the Mini can provide. The Mac Mini tops out at an M5 Pro processor, 64GB of RAM and 307 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The Mac Studio's base M5 Max configuration supports up to 128GB of unified memory and, at $5,899, can be configured with an 18-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 128GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. Apple says it can run large language models and edit 8K video.
The M5 Ultra model is aimed at heavy AI users. It combines two M5 Max processors and supports up to 512GB of RAM. Apple says typical use includes storing huge datasets entirely in local memory, increasing tokens-per-second speed and running huge LLMs with hundreds of billions of parameters entirely on device. Four units can be clustered through Thunderbolt 5 ports to triple performance. Demand for such AI setups reportedly caught Apple by surprise with the previous model.
Video users are also a target. With the M5 Ultra, filmmakers can color-grade uncompressed 8K footage in real time, VFX artists can render complex simulations, and the system can simultaneously play up to 33 streams of 8K ProRes 422 at 30 fps. The M5 Ultra starts at $5,500 with a 30-core CPU, 64-core GPU and 96GB of unified memory. A 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU configuration with 256GB of unified memory and 2TB of storage costs $11,299. The comparable Mac Studio M3 Ultra with a 32-core CPU, 80-core GPU, 256GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD retailed for $7,499 at launch—$3,800 less.
Engadget reports that the main causes are the Mac Studio's large amounts of high-end memory and storage, 'RAMageddon' pricing, hedging and Apple's usual high margins. Apple addressed component costs in June when it raised MacBook prices, saying, 'We've never seen component prices increase this much, this quickly. We've worked hard to absorb these costs and delay price increases for as long as possible, but the current environment has made that unsustainable.'
The memory in the M5 Ultra is LPDDR5X, which Apple calls unified memory because it is shared between the CPU and GPU. Fully loaded, it has 1.2TB/s of bandwidth. LPDDR5X has a maximum throughput of 172GB/s, so Apple places it directly on the M5 Ultra processor package with a very wide 1,024-bit bus. It is the fastest and most expensive memory available apart from server-grade high bandwidth memory. Apple was reportedly paying around $6 per gigabyte earlier this year, but that price may now be $10 to $11. Memory cost for a 256GB Mac Studio M5 Ultra could be around $2,500 to $2,800.
NAND storage prices have also risen. Apple's cost for 2TB is likely around $300 to $500 based on current market prices and the high-end PCIe 5.0 memory it uses. Prices are reportedly around four times what memory cost when the previous Mac Studio launched, and double for storage. That produces an increase of about $2,200 to $2,400 at the high end, Engadget reports.
Editor's Summary
Apple's Mac Studio now costs substantially more, with the M5 Max starting at $2,500 and the M5 Ultra at $5,500, as high-end memory and storage prices surge. Engadget reports that Apple's pricing also reflects hedging and profit-margin decisions, leaving AI and video professionals to pay thousands more for comparable configurations.