Mac Studio with M5 Ultra: Launching this year Apfelpatient

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Despite the recent price increases across the Mac lineup, Apple is apparently sticking to its plans for a new Mac Studio – and it could be released as early as this year. At its heart would be an M5 Ultra chip, finally updating the desktop that hasn't changed since March 2025. Up to 768 gigabytes of RAM are rumored, but this would likely drive the price sky-high.

The Mac Studio is Apple's most powerful desktop Mac since the Mac Pro was virtually discontinued – and this very model has been waiting for an update since March 2025. According to a recent report, the update is expected to arrive in 2026 despite supply chain issues. The intended M5 Ultra would be the last chip in the M5 family before Apple transitions to the M6 and M7 generations. This new Mac Studio thus fits into a larger shift in Apple's chip roadmap.

Despite price pressure, still this year

According to a Bloomberg report, Apple is still planning to release the new Mac Studio in 2026, despite the company's recent price increase for its entire Mac lineup. The update was originally slated for an earlier date this year but was pushed back due to memory chip shortages and increased costs. In April, a launch around October 2026 was mentioned. Whether this date will hold is uncertain – even the current Mac Studio with the M3 Ultra processor is currently showing delivery delays extending into October.

What's inside the M5 Ultra

The chip itself is said to have around 36 CPU cores and 80 GPU cores. This isn't much more than the current M3 Ultra, which boasts up to 32 CPU cores and up to 80 GPU cores. The real improvement, therefore, lies less in the sheer number of cores and more in the newer architecture and efficiency of the M5 generation. Another figure is noteworthy: according to the report, Apple has tested support for up to 768 gigabytes of unified memory – a value that would be particularly interesting for large AI models and memory-intensive professional workloads.

Storage as the crucial point

Whether these 768 gigabytes will actually become an option is questionable. The ongoing shortage of memory chips could prevent Apple from offering this top-of-the-line capacity at all. The current Mac Studio illustrates the seriousness of the situation: Apple discontinued the previously available 512-gigabyte variant in March, meaning the M3 Ultra model can currently only be ordered with 96 gigabytes of RAM. Apple's temporary removal of higher memory options is a trend currently affecting several Mac models.

The price is likely to be steep

A Mac Studio with an M5 Ultra and 768 gigabytes of RAM, should it ever be released, would be extremely expensive. Even in today's price update, the 96-gigabyte model climbed from $3,999 to $5,299 – a $1,300 increase for the base configuration alone. Eight times the amount of RAM in the midst of the memory shortage would push the price into a range that would be exceptionally high, even for professional users.

A final appearance for the M5 generation

If the schedule holds, the Mac Studio would mark the end of the M5 series before Apple ushers in a new era with the M6 and M7. For professionals who rely on maximum desktop computing power, the update is long overdue – the question is less whether it will come, but rather at what price and with what maximum memory capacity. Clarity will only emerge once Apple actually sets a date. (Image: Shutterstock / Maarten Zeehandelaar)