Thanks, AI: global RAM shortage means my favorite Mac ever is getting harder to find | Tech Radar

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Thanks, AI: global RAM shortage means my favorite Mac ever is getting harder to find

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It looks like the global RAM shortage has claimed more victims, as it’s becoming increasingly difficult to buy new Mac desktop PCs.

As Mac Observer noticed, if you try to order a Mac mini or Mac Studio from Apple’s online store you could end up waiting several months for your new device — especially if you add extra memory.

I’ve tried this myself to confirm, and the situation does indeed appear bleak. Attempting to buy a standard M4 Mac mini from Apple's US store, the website informs me that shipping will be four to five weeks — that's a big delay for people expecting the usual next-day delivery.

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Upping the memory from the default 16GB to 24GB extends the delivery estimate to 10 to 12 weeks, and increasing the memory again to 32GB pushes it back to 16 to 18 weeks, which means some people could potentially be waiting over four months for their new Mac.

It’s a similar story in the UK and Australia, with waits of up to 18 weeks for the Mac mini with 32GB of memory.

This is a real shame, as the current Mac mini is one of my favorite products of all time — if you’re looking for a compact PC, there really is no better alternative. However, it’s difficult to recommend to people if they can’t get hold of one.

The fact that changing the amount of memory on the Mac mini makes the delivery delays worse certainly suggests that Apple isn’t as immune to the global RAM shortage as some had thought.

Because Apple uses what it terms ‘unified memory’, which is soldered directly onto its M-series chips and shared between computing and graphics tasks, rather than that off-the-shelf RAM that other laptop makers use, it had initially looked like Apple might escape the worst impacts of the memory shortages, but it seems not.

This could also explain the absence of an M5 Mac mini (and Mac Studio), despite Apple releasing M5 versions of its Mac Book Pro and Mac Book Air laptops. If the company is struggling to get enough memory for its existing portfolio of products, I can understand why it would be reluctant to launch any more.

On the other hand, could Apple be holding some of its memory stock in anticipation of the M5 versions? Apple is typically tight-lipped about these things, so we can only guess.

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What I do know, however, is that if you want a Mac mini that will be delivered in a relatively reasonable time, you’re going to have to either buy one from another retailer, or stick with the base 16GB model if you buy from Apple.

It’s important to remember, however, that because of the compact design of the Mac mini, as well as Apple’s frustrating antipathy to designing products that can be upgraded and fixed by its customers, if you do buy a Mac mini (or Studio) with a reduced amount of memory, you won’t be able to add more later.

➡️ Read our full guide to the best Mac Books and Macs

1. Best Mac Book overall: Mac Book Air 13-inch M5
2. Best budget Mac Book: Mac Book Neo
3. Best Mac: Mac mini (M4)
4. Best Mac Book Pro Mac Book Pro 14-inch M5
5. Best Mac for professionals Mac Studio M4 Max

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Matt is Tech Radar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. He’s personally reviewed and used most of the laptops in our best laptops guide - and since joining Tech Radar in 2014, he's reviewed over 250 laptops and computing accessories personally.

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