'Insane demand': some Mac mini and Mac Studio models are now out of stock at Apple, but it's not clear what the reasons are — RAM crisis or imminent refresh? | Tech Radar

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'Insane demand': some Mac mini and Mac Studio models are now out of stock at Apple, but it's not clear what the reasons are — RAM crisis or imminent refresh?

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Certain Mac minis and Mac Studio models are no longer available

The shortage could be linked to RAM and storage issues

An M5 chipset refresh for these Macs is also expected soon

A few days ago we reported that certain configurations of the Mac mini and the Mac Studio were showing extended delays on their shipping times if you ordered directly from Apple — and the stock situation now appears to be worse still.

As spotted by 9to 5 Mac, certain models in these lines are now completely out of stock at the Apple Store in the US. These include the M4 Mac mini with 32GB of RAM and the M3 Ultra Studio with 256GB of RAM, so the higher spec, more expensive options seem to have been hit the hardest.

We've checked on stock levels at Apple in the UK and Australia, and the same configurations are showing up as unavailable — you simply can't buy them right now. The models that are still available to purchase or pick up at an Apple Store are showing significant delays of several months in some cases.

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This seems to be more than a 'mere' stock shortage, too: when Apple products become unavailable to buy like this, it usually means they're being discontinued entirely, which is what happened with the Apple Mac Pro at the end of last month.

The Mac Pro has already been discontinued (Image credit: Brittany Hosea-Small/ AFP/ Getty Images)

With no official comment from Apple yet, we can only speculate on what's going on here — but it seems likely that the ongoing memory and storage shortage caused by AI data center demand is having an effect on Apple's production lines.

There's another angle here, though, which is that M5 chip refreshes for the Mac mini and the Mac Studio are thought to be around the corner. Apple might be running down stock to make room for new models that are about to be announced — or a combination of factors could all be having an influence.

Users on Reddit have pointed to "insane demand" for the current models — in part due to Macs being used to run local AIs — and the upcoming M5 refresh as the main reasons for the stock shortage. There are fewer mentions here of the RAM crisis, which until now Apple has been able to navigate fairly successfully.

What's certain is that due to Apple's 'unified memory' approach, where RAM is soldered directly on to the chipset, you can't upgrade the RAM on these machines afterwards — so bear that in mind if you're going to be putting any orders in.

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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on Tech Radar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, Pop Sci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

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• 'Insane demand': some Mac mini and Mac Studio models are now out of stock at Apple, but it's not clear what the reasons are — RAM crisis or imminent refresh