Mac Studio M5: Release, Specs & Price

Apple has effectively discontinued the Mac Pro. The Mac Studio is now Apple's most powerful desktop – and is about to receive its biggest update yet. Originally planned for release mid-year, the global memory chip crisis has, according to Gurman, pushed the launch back to October 2026. We've summarized what's known so far.

Since its introduction in 2022, the Mac Studio has established itself as a compact workstation for professional users. Video editing, 3D rendering, music production, and more recently, local AI workloads – the Mac Studio delivers computing power in a compact form factor. In our Mac buying guide: Mac mini vs. Mac Studio vs. iMac, we have already compared the current models in detail.

But the next chapter is about to begin. The M5 Max chip is already installed in the MacBook Pro M5 and is therefore officially in production. The M5 Ultra, however, would be a completely new product – Apple famously skipped the M4 Ultra generation. Below, we summarize all the current rumors regarding the design, chip, memory, release, and price of the upcoming Mac Studio.

Key Facts at a Glance

Detail	Expectation
Models	M5 Max and M5 Ultra
Release	October 2026 (postponed due to memory chip crisis)
Design	No changes expected
Starting price	Still open; current Mac Studio after price round starts at €2,999 (M4 Max)
Special feature	First Mac Studio with M5 Ultra – M4 Ultra was skipped.

Design: Everything remains the same

According to multiple reports, the Mac Studio's external appearance will remain unchanged. The compact aluminum enclosure with its rounded corners will be retained. At 9.4 cm high and 19.7 cm wide, the Mac Studio is still significantly smaller than the discontinued Mac Pro and fits easily on any desk.

The ports are also likely to remain largely identical: Thunderbolt 5, USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, SD card reader, 10 Gigabit Ethernet and the 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Chip: M5 Max and M5 Ultra

M5 Max

The M5 Max is already installed in the current MacBook Pro and is therefore officially in production. The chip is based on Apple's new Fusion architecture, in which the CPU and GPU are located on separate blocks. This allows for more flexible configurations – for example, a powerful GPU with a moderate CPU, or vice versa. A similar principle of modularity is already familiar from the MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro 2026, where the choice of chip makes the crucial difference.

The most important expected specs:

18-core CPU
40-core GPU
Up to 128 GB Unified Memory
Memory bandwidth of approximately 614 GB/s

M5 Ultra

The M5 Ultra will consist of two connected M5 Max dies – as is common with previous Ultra chips. This doubles the number of cores:

36-core CPU
Up to 80-core GPU
Up to 768 GB Unified Memory tested (availability open)
Significantly higher storage bandwidth

Compared to the current M3 Ultra with up to 32 CPU and 80 GPU cores, the increase in the pure number of cores is manageable – the real progress lies in the newer architecture and the higher efficiency of the M5 generation.

Apple completely skipped the M4 Ultra. There is no M4 Ultra – the current Mac Studio still uses the M3 Ultra from the previous generation. This means the jump from the M3 Ultra to the M5 Ultra is particularly significant.

Initial benchmark rumors suggest multi-core scores of around 41,000 points. This would make the M5 Ultra the biggest performance leap in the Ultra series to date.

Storage and Ports

The base storage is expected to increase: the M5 Max will likely start with a 1 TB SSD, and the M5 Ultra with 2 TB. Both variants will probably use the faster SSDs that Apple has already introduced in the M5 MacBook Pro.

However, there are significant limitations regarding RAM. Apple has removed the 512GB option and, more recently, the 256GB variant from the configurator of the current Mac Studio with M3 Ultra – currently, only the 96GB configuration remains. This is due to the global memory chip crisis, which is forcing Apple to redirect scarce DRAM capacity to high-margin products like the iPhone Pro and MacBook Pro.

What this means for the upcoming Mac Studio with M5 Ultra remains to be seen. According to a recent report, Apple has even internally tested support for up to 768 GB of Unified Memory – a value that would primarily address large AI models and memory-intensive professional workloads. However, whether this top-of-the-line configuration will actually become an option given the tight memory chip market is questionable; it's quite possible that Apple will initially set the maximum available value significantly lower.

On the networking side, Apple's new N1 chip is expected, which will bring Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. Currently, the Mac Studio supports a maximum of Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. More information about the N1 chip and its limitations can be found in our article Apple N1 Chip Brings Wi-Fi 7 – But with Limitations.

Display: Studio Display and Studio Display XDR are already available

Apple introduced the new Studio Display and Studio Display XDR in March 2026 – both ideal companions for the Mac Studio. Those interested in the differences can find all the details in our Studio Display vs. Studio Display XDR comparison.

Release: October instead of June

Originally, several sources – including Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman – expected the release at WWDC in June 2026. WWDC would have been a logical time: Two of the three previous Mac Studio generations were unveiled in March, and one in June at WWDC. Since the March 2026 slot was already occupied by the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iPad Air, June seemed the obvious next window.

However, on April 19, 2026, Gurman reported that the launch had been postponed to October 2026 due to the global memory chip crisis. Apple is apparently currently prioritizing notebook production, as the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are less affected by RAM shortages than desktop Macs with high memory configurations.

As we reported in Mac Studio M5: Launch delayed until October, several current Mac Studio configurations are already unavailable for order. An October launch would fit with Apple's typical fall event season and give Apple more time to build up sufficient inventory.

Price: Will the Mac Studio become more expensive?

The pricing situation has recently become quite volatile. Apple had long kept the prices of its Mac desktops stable, but this week the company raised prices across its entire Mac line – driven by the global memory chip crisis. In the US alone, the 96GB base configuration of the current Mac Studio with M3 Ultra climbed from $3,999 to $5,299, an increase of $1,300. For the upcoming M5 Ultra Mac Studio, this means that a stable price is unlikely, and high-end configurations with high memory demands are expected to be significantly more expensive.

Specific Euro prices for the new models are still pending; following the latest price adjustment, the current Mac Studio starts at €2,999 (M4 Max) and €6,299 (M3 Ultra) in Germany. Given these already increased prices and the ongoing memory chip shortage, the M5 successors are likely to be priced higher rather than lower. Apple might also increase the base storage to 1 TB SSD and adjust the price accordingly – a pattern already observed with the M5 MacBook Pro.

Mac Studio: Who should wait?

The Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra is aimed at professional users: video editing, 3D rendering, music production, software development, and increasingly, local AI workloads. The M5 Ultra will be able to run large AI models entirely in memory - an advantage no other consumer desktop can offer.

Anyone currently using a Mac Studio with an M4 Max will hardly notice the difference in everyday use – the M5 Max is an iterative improvement. However, those still using an M1 or M2 Mac Studio, or upgrading from an M3 Ultra to an M5 Ultra, will get a significant performance boost with the new model.

Our recommendation: Anyone planning to buy a high-performance desktop Mac should wait until October. The new Mac Studio is practically confirmed and could be by far the most powerful Mac update of the year.

The best products for you: Our Amazon storefront offers a wide selection of accessories, including those for HomeKit. (Image: Shutterstock / Wachiwit)