Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- Macworld reports that Apple’s immunity to RAM shortages is ending, causing delays for highly anticipated Mac products including the touchscreen MacBook Pro.
- The touchscreen MacBook Pro may be pushed from late 2026 to early 2027, while the M5 Mac Studio faces a four-month delay until October.
- AI data center demand is driving the RAM shortage, but this trend may stabilize with Apple potentially recovering first due to its strong market position.
Up until now, the industry-wide RAM shortage has left Apple largely unaffected, thanks to its market clout and ironclad contracts with suppliers. But according to a new report, that period of immunity is about to end, with Mac fans facing bad news concerning two upcoming launches.
In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman predicts that new Mac Studio models and the widely anticipated touchscreen MacBook Pro both face launch delays as a result of “supply chain snags.” He describes these delays as minor (each product “could debut a little later than the company initially planned,” he says), but customers may not see it that way.
The M5 Mac Studio, for example, was widely expected by Gurman and others to arrive in the first half of this year, likely at or close to WWDC in June. But that’s now unlikely to happen. A more realistic timeframe, Gurman believes, is October, after the big iPhone launch in September. That’s a delay of four months and a major disruption for Apple’s plans, which include the launch of the flagship M5 Ultra chip.
The M5 Mac Studio, and with it the M5 Ultra chip, will likely be delayed until the fall.
Thomas Bergbold
The touchscreen MacBook Pro, meanwhile, could be pushed back from this year to early 2027. Multiple sources have pointed to a release in late 2026 or early 2027, but thanks to the shortages, Gurman says, we should “be prepared for these to potentially come on the later end of the timeline.” This is despite the products being set for readiness from a software point of view by the fall of 2026. It’s entirely the RAM shortfall that’s to blame.
This will be disappointing news for Apple fans eager to spend their cash on premium Mac products, but there are reasons for optimism in the longer term. The RAM shortage has been largely the result of AI, with data centers buying up swathes of the supply, leaving little for consumer use. This has meant tight supplies of products and, in many cases, rising prices. But this won’t last forever.
AI is in a bubble phase at the moment, characterised by hype and rapid growth. At some point, either the bubble will burst or the market will mature into something more stable, and in either case, data centers will stop expanding at their current unsustainable rate. Indeed, there have been occasional signs of RAM prices dropping or flattening out, and while it’s unclear whether this signals the end of the madness quite yet, sanity will return eventually.
And just as Apple’s power and size meant it survived the longest before being affected at the start of the shortage, it’s likely to be the first to get access to components at a manageable price when things begin to return to normal. This is hardly fair to the other manufacturers, but it’s good news for Apple fans.
