AI Boom Empties High-RAM Macs

High-memory Macs are suddenly impossible to buy—configurations like the 64GB Mac mini and 256GB Mac Studio have vanished from Apple’s US store, and lead times had already ballooned to months before the disappearances. It’s not just Apple: global DRAM prices are soaring, with AI firms like Anthropic soaking up every available chip. Local LLM demand has turned Mac desktops into essential AI workstations, but now supply can’t keep up. Apple’s recent 25% RAM upgrade price hike and the quiet removal of the 512GB option point to a company squeezed by both surging demand and sky-high component costs.

But here’s the catch: this shortage might also be Apple clearing shelves for the next-generation M5 desktop chips, setting up a brutal squeeze for anyone needing 128GB+ of unified memory in the meantime. PC workstations with discrete GPUs could win a few deals—if they can find high-bandwidth memory, which is just as scarce. Meanwhile, Apple’s pricing power on memory upsells could boost profits, but only if DRAM inflation doesn’t eat the margins.

On the innovation front, the first foldable iPhone is caught between rumors of an on-schedule September debut and reports of production delays. Even a short slip could disrupt quarterly numbers and give Samsung a head start. And in the background, Apple is pulling Samsung into its DOJ antitrust fight, trying to prove that iPhone owners really do switch platforms. If the data goes the wrong way, it could force Apple to open up even more—just as it prepares for WWDC announcements on AI and ecosystem “openness.” Based on reporting from Bloomberg, Barron’s, Digitimes, and more.

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