Apple Plans 2026 Mac Studio Refresh Featuring M5 Ultra Chips Amid Global RAM Shortages

Apple is readying a Mac Studio refresh with M5 Ultra chips for 2026. Discover how RAM shortages and the Mac Pro's end shape the new pro desktop.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 18, 2026, 9:15 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from MacRumors

Anticipated Hardware Refresh for Apple’s Flagship Desktop

Apple is currently engineering an updated iteration of the Mac Studio, positioned as the company’s most formidable desktop solution following the discontinuation of the Mac Pro in March 2026. While an official announcement has yet to be made, industry indicators suggest a release window targeted for the middle of this year. The forthcoming model is expected to serve as the primary workstation for professional users, consolidating Apple’s high-end desktop lineup into a single, compact form factor that maintains the established "squircle" aesthetic of its predecessors.

Evolution Toward the M5 Silicon Architecture

The primary technical advancement for the 2026 Mac Studio will be the integration of M5 Max and M5 Ultra processors. The M5 Max has already demonstrated a 30 percent increase in performance within recent MacBook Pro iterations, and the M5 Ultra is projected to double those capabilities by linking two Max chips together. According to preliminary performance estimates, a fully realized M5 Ultra could feature a 36-core CPU and an 80-core GPU, providing the necessary computational overhead for intensive professional workloads and localized artificial intelligence modeling.

Severe Constraints in the Global Memory Supply Chain

Despite the leap in processing power, the next Mac Studio faces significant headwinds due to a worldwide shortage of Random Access Memory (RAM). Manufacturers are currently prioritizing AI server hardware, leaving consumer electronics brands to navigate limited supplies and rising costs. This volatility has already forced Apple to stop accepting orders for certain high-capacity configurations and led to the discontinuation of the 512GB RAM option earlier this year. Consequently, the upcoming refresh may see memory ceilings capped at 256GB for the Ultra model.