Needless to say, this year has been off to a great start, particularly for the Mac. With the launch of the MacBook Neo, Apple has seen stronger sales, particularly with first-time Mac buyers. However, it’s also a weird time to buy a Mac right now. The MacBook Neo has been selling so well that it’s apparently been backordered. Not only that, but if you’re shopping for a more powerful desktop, you may have noticed that shipping times have started to slip for both the Mac mini and the Mac Studio.
At the time of this writing, here are the shipping dates for the memory configurations of these models (assuming you don’t make other custom configurations such as storage):
- Mac mini
- M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU) / 16GB: May 14 – May 21
- M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU) / 24GB: 10-12 weeks
- M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU) / 32GB: Currently Unavailable
- M4 Pro (12-core CPU/16-core GPU) / 24GB: May 14 – May 21
- M4 Pro (12-core CPU/16-core GPU) / 48GB: 10-12 weeks
- M4 Pro (12-core CPU/16-core GPU) / 64GB: Currently Unavailable
- Mac Studio
- M4 Max (14-core CPU/32-core GPU) / 36GB: May 7 – May 14
- M4 Max (16-core CPU/40-core GPU) / 48GB: 10-12 weeks
- M4 Max (16-core CPU/40-core GPU) / 64GB: May 28 – Jun 4
- M4 Max (16-core CPU/40-core GPU) / 128GB: Currently Unavailable
- M3 Ultra (28-core CPU/60-core GPU) / 96GB: May 21 – May 29
- M3 Ultra (28-core CPU/60-core GPU) / 126GB: Currently Unavailable
So the takeaway here is that while most of these memory configurations are seeing significantly delayed shipping times, just the highest-end memory configurations are marked as “Currently Unavailable.” It’s also worth pointing out that last month, Apple quietly removed the Mac Studio’s 512GB memory option. On the other hand, the M4 iMac appears to be in stock with normal shipping dates (if you custom-configure the iMac, such as with either the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad or the Magic Trackpad, then yes, shipping could take longer).
While severe supply constraints on memory may be the culprit, I strongly believe that we could see an imminent refresh to both the Mac mini and the Mac Studio. Initially, I expected Apple to update at least the Mac Studio at WWDC, but it looks like Apple will have to announce it sooner rather than later.
The Mac mini is expected to be updated with both the M5 and the M5 Pro chips, and the Mac Studio is expected to be updated with both the M5 Max and the M5 Ultra chips.
