Apple has only just announced its compact, super-powerful Mac Studio PC – and despite its high asking price ($1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,099 for the base model), it seems to have proven so popular that shipping dates have now slipped to May.
While pre-orders are now live for the Mac Studio, Apple announced that the first units will start arriving on March 18. However, it looks like there’s been a rush to order the Mac Studio, with people trying to buy the new device now being told that it won’t ship until May.
These days, with the global pandemic and chip shortage, we’re used to new tech devices becoming hard to buy after they’re announced. We’d hoped that with the Mac Studio coming with either an M1 Max or M1 Ultra (made up of two M1 Max chips), Apple may have avoided any supply issues, as it’s using existing chips.
Unfortunately, it seems there is now a wait to get hold of a Mac Studio.
Adding delays
If you’re in the US and order the base model with an M1 Max chip, 32GB memory and 512GB SSD for $1,999, it will ship in two to three weeks, currently.
However, if you order the M1 Ultra model with 64GB memory and 1TB SSD for $3,999, it will ship in six to seven week’s time – which would mean it coming at the end of April.
You can also configure your Mac Studio to add more memory or storage space, but doing that will also increase the time you have to wait, with the configured M1 Max Mac Studio taking three to four weeks to ship.
Meanwhile, if you change the memory of the M1 Ultra Mac Studio to 128GB, the shipping wait leaps to eight to ten weeks – making you wait well into May.
Interestingly, if you configure the M1 Ultra Mac Studio from the M1 Ultra with a 48-core GPU to an M1 Ultra with 64-core GPU, shipping times actually drop to three to four weeks. Still not as soon as March 18, but better than waiting a few months. However, that upgrade does cost an additional $1,000, so probably isn’t a viable solution unless you have the money and need the power.
In the UK, the base M1 Max Mac Studio will now arrive between March 25 and April 1, with the M1 Ultra Mac Studio arriving between May 4 and May 11. Again, that’s quite a wait, and configuring either of those will add more delay.
Australian buyers don’t seem to have it quite so bad, however, with both the M1 Max and M1 Ultra Mac Studios shipping in two to three weeks.
So, if you want a Mac Studio anytime soon, you’re going to want to order sooner rather than later, before the shipping delays get any longer.